Politics
Trump accused of ignoring rule of law to curb birthright citizenship
A US federal judge in Seattle on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of ignoring the rule of law for political and personal gain.
This is as he declared an executive order that the Republican president signed seeking to curtail birthright citizenship to be unconstitutional.
There was applause in the courtroom after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour extended an order he had issued two weeks ago temporarily blocking Trump’s order from being implemented into a nationwide injunction lasting indefinitely.
“It has become ever more apparent that to our president the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” Coughenour said.
According to him, the rule of law is something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain.
Meanwhile, Trump’s administration late on Thursday filed a notice that it was appealing the judge’s decision.
The White House is yet to comment on the development.
The judge’s ruling came in a lawsuit by the Democratic-led states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon and several pregnant women who argued that Trump’s order violates a right enshrined in the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment that provides that anyone born in the United States is a citizen.
Trump’s order directed US agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States after Feb. 19 if neither their mother nor father is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Trump signed the order, part of his sweeping hard-line immigration policies, on his first day back in office on January 20.
Ekwutosblog gathered that Coughenour’s nationwide preliminary injunction is one of two issued by federal judges so far blocking Trump’s administration from implementing the order.
A federal judge in Maryland issued a similar injunction on Wednesday, and judges in Boston and New Hampshire are set on Friday and Monday to consider whether to do the same at the request of Democratic-led states and immigrant rights advocates.
A lawyer for the US Justice Department, Drew Ensign, said the plaintiffs were misreading a key US Supreme Court ruling from 1898 in the case United States versus Wong Kim Ark, which long has been interpreted as guaranteeing the right to birthright citizenship.
“Their reading of the 14th Amendment’s protections was demonstrably and unequivocally incorrect,” Ensign said.
However, Coughenour during the brief hearing said the plaintiffs were right and that no amount of policy debate can change that.
According to him, Trump’s administration has sought to deprive children born on US soil of their fundamental right to citizenship by cloaking what was effectively a constitutional amendment in an executive order signed by Trump.
“There are moments in the world’s history where people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?
“In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today,” Coughenour said.
Chairman, Policy Manifesto Committee of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, John Odigie-Oyegun, says former president Muhammadu Buhari gave him the shock of his life, six months into his administration as Nigeria’s leader.
Oyegun made this disclosure on Friday when he featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Prime Time’.
He revealed that as National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, he went to tell Buhari that he was not delivering his election promises to Nigerians but that the late president told him he would not rule with strictness, but rather wanted to show Nigerians that he is a true civilian president.
The former APC National Chairman lamented that it became business as usual, from there.
“I was national chairman of the APC. Six months or less into our assuming office, fairly alarmed, I went to the late President Buhari for a one-on-one talk. I said Mr President, this is not what the people were expecting. They wanted a bit of the old president Buhari.
“And he explained to me, Mr Chairman, I have learned my lesson. I was shocked. And don’t forget at that time, a lot of prominent Nigerians took their holidays abroad, just to be sure and see what this new sheriff in town will be.
“Buhari told me he wants to now show the people that he’s a true civilian president in Agbada. And by the time we finished the conversation, I said Oh God, we are finished. Because, if he’s not ready to be strict, what’s the point?
“Weeks later, months later, years later, I was proven correct. And of course, it became business as usual, only that they are a new set of tenants in Aso Rock. That was a shocker,” he said.
Former lawmaker, Dino Melaye Esq, has raised concerns over the Senate’s reported rejection of the electronic transmission of election results.
The move, according to Melaye, is a clear endorsement of election rigging and an indication of a sinister plan to rig the 2027 elections.
In a statement on Friday, the former lawmaker criticized the Senate’s decision, stating that it undermines the credibility of the electoral process.
The African Democratic Congress, ADC chieftain, also stated that the move opens the door for electoral manipulation and fraud.
He further warned that the rejection of electronic transmission of results is a step backwards for democracy in Nigeria.
Melaye called on lawmakers and citizens to stand up against “this blatant attempt to undermine the will of the people and ensure that future elections are free, fair, and transparent”.
Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has said Nigerians have every reason to be mad at the Senate over the ongoing debate on e-transmission of election results.
Ezekwesili made this known on Friday when she featured in an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ monitored by DAILY POST.
DAILY POST reports that the Senate on Wednesday turned down a proposed change to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that aimed to compel the electronic transmission of election results.
Reacting to the matter, Ezekwesili said, “The fundamental issue with the review of the Electoral Act is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act, Section 60 Sub 5.
“This section became infamous for the loophole it provided INEC, causing Nigerians to lose trust. Since the law established that it wasn’t mandatory for INEC to transmit electoral results in real-time, there wasn’t much anyone could say.
“Citizens embraced the opportunity to reform the INEC Act, aiming to address ambiguity and discretionary opportunities for INEC. Yet, the Senate handled it with a “let sleeping dogs lie” approach. The citizens have every reason to be as outraged as they currently are.”
How Buhari shocked me 6 months into his administration – Oyegun
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