A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday, Jan. 23 temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour’s ruling in a case brought by Washington and three other states is the first in what is sure to be a long legal fight over the order’s constitutionality.

Multiple states and cities are suing President Donald Trump over his executive order ending birthright citizenship. Their argument is that a person born in the United States is a citizen of the United States and is protected under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that aims to end birthright citizenship, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” It comes as immigration agents are launching crackdowns in major cities.

The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate any state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump administration

A memo asserts that state and local officials are bound to cooperate and could face criminal prosecution or civil penalties if they fail to comply.

A memo from the acting deputy attorney general instructs officials to identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to impede” the Trump administration's immigration efforts.