Washington
Judge grants WA’s request to temporarily block Trump’s birthright citizenship order • Washington State Standard
A federal judge in Seattle on Thursday 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.
Coughenour called the order “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order,” the judge told the Trump administration’s attorney. “It boggles my mind.”
Coughenour’s decision came after 25 minutes of arguments between attorneys for Washington state and the Department of Justice.
On Tuesday, Attorney General Nick Brown, along with peers in Oregon, Arizona and Illinois, sued the Trump administration over the order. Shortly after filing the lawsuit, the states asked Coughenour to grant a temporary restraining order stopping the executive action from taking effect.
Eighteen other states filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts. Those states haven’t filed for a preliminary injunction.
Trump signed the executive order shortly after he was sworn into office on Monday. It would end birthright citizenship for babies born to a mother and father who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Brett Shumate, of the Department of Justice, argued the rush for an emergency pause is unwarranted because the order doesn’t go into effect until Feb. 19. He called the state’s motion “extraordinary.”
Attorneys for the state acknowledged the temporary restraining order is extraordinary, but warranted. Washington would lose federal dollars used to provide services to citizens and officials would be forced to modify those service systems.
The order is “causing immediate widespread and severe harm,” said Lane Polozola, of the Washington attorney general’s office. “Citizens are being stripped of their most foundational right, which is the right to have rights.”
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution codified birthright citizenship in 1868. It begins: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The executive order focuses on the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” phrase.
“The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” Trump’s order reads. “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”
Polozola called this interpretation “absurd” and that birthright citizenship is a right that is “off limits.”
Legal precedent has long backed up birthright citizenship. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the concept when justices ruled Wong Kim Ark, a man born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, was a U.S. citizen.
Coughenour has been a federal judge for decades. Republican President Ronald Reagan nominated him for the bench in 1981.
Video and audio recording were not allowed in the courtroom Thursday.
Looking forward, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would have jurisdiction over the case. Democratic presidents appointed a majority of the circuit court’s judges. But appeals could also eventually land the dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court.
SEATTLE — A bill aimed at tightening Washington’s laws on child sex abuse material is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk after clearing the Legislature unanimously.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said 2ESSB 5105 passed the House unanimously Tuesday night after the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 28, 2026.
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Manion called the measure one of her public safety legislative priorities.
“People who peddle in the misery of sexually abused children must be held accountable,” Manion said. “I am grateful for the work of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laura Harmon – both in prosecuting these cases and advocating for these legal fixes – and Senators Tina Orwall and Manka Dhingra for championing this legislation.”
Manion’s office said the current state law has gaps that can prevent prosecutors from holding offenders accountable in some cases.
Under current law, prosecutors cannot charge defendants for creating images of child sex abuse unless the child victim was conscious or knew they were being recorded.
The office also said that possessing sexually explicit fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors is not considered child sex abuse material under Washington law.
The bill would update RCW 9.68A.040 to remove the requirement that a child be aware of an abusive recording. It would also update the definition of child sex abuse material to include fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors.
The legislation would also increase the statute of limitations to 10 years for depiction crimes. Manion’s office said the current statute of limitations is three years, and argued that because the images can remain online indefinitely, victims can be re-traumatized for decades.
Both of Utah’s power play units scored in the win. Sergachev scored his 10th goal of the season on the power play 13 and a half minutes into the first period. Peterka scored his 21st of the season, on the man-advantage, in the final two minutes of the middle frame.
Peterka has three power play goals in the 2025-26 campaign while Sergachev has matched a career-high with five power play goals this season. Overall, Utah’s power play has scored six goals in the last six games. That output matches the Mammoth’s total from their previous 18 games (per Mammoth PR). Tourigny discussed what’s changed with the team’s performance in recent games.
“(The) puck gets in,” Tourigny laughed. “But, no, I think there’s a number of things. The most important thing is we’re aggressive. We’re attacking.
“…If you look at our goal, the first one, it’s a direct play to the net and then on the loose puck recovery we take a shot with traffic and we score,” Tourigny continued. “On the second one, it’s a slot pass, a great shot by (Peterka). I think we had that attack mindset.”
Guenther, who is on the Mammoth’s top power play unit, agreed with Tourigny’s assessment of attacking more.
“I think just attacking, less predictable,” Guenther explained. “Shooting it more, I think (it is) just work really. Trying to play like a 5-on-5 mindset but on the (power play).”
The Mammoth made several line changes for tonight’s game and the new lines started to find chemistry, despite it being the first game with these changes.
“I like them,” Tourigny said of the changes. “Obviously (Guenther) got a goal, but Cooley’s line was really good. I was looking at the expected goals at the end, I think they were above 90%. So that’s pretty, pretty awesome. Then I think (Barrett Hayton’s) line worked really hard. They’re heavy on pucks and they play well defensively. I did like (Michael Carcone’s) line in (the) previous three games, and I did like them again tonight.”
When Washington pushed back with a power play goal and multiple close chances in the third period, Utah fought hard against the momentum swing to secure the win.
“I thought we did a pretty good job,” Keller explained. “Weathering the storm as much as we could. They’re a great veteran team. They made it hard on us. They pressured us all over the ice, but I was proud of the way we fought there towards the end.”
Utah’s bench was positive and calm throughout the game, especially late in the third. This helped the Mammoth through the momentum swings. Keller, who had two assists in the win, was one of the key voices for the Mammoth.
“He’s one of the guys who was really positive on the bench,” Tourigny explained. “(All the players) were but (Keller) was really vocal. He was really good energy on the bench. So that was really good.”
Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)
- Guenther had two points in the win (1G, 1A) and the forward has earned a team-high nine points (5G, 4A) through six road games in 2026. He has become the third Mammoth skater to reach the 50-point mark this season (28G, 23A) and established a new career-high in goals.
- Sergachev has 18 power play points this season (5G, 13A) and is tied with Keller for the team lead this season.
- Keller has recorded multiple primary assists in a game for the seventh time this season and the 27th time in his NHL career. He has now tallied multiple points in four of his last six contests (2G, 8A), with three multi-assist outings over that span.
The Mammoth continue their five-game road trip in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Game time is 5 p.m. MT and available to watch on Mammoth+ and Utah16.
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