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.
Washington
Live updates: Detroit Lions at Washington Commanders
After a flat performance last week, the Lions travel to Washington to face a familiar foe on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Commanders in a rematch of last season’s NFL divisional playoff game.
Detroit looked rusty and undisciplined in its Week 9 loss to the Vikings, a stunning upset that now has the team at 1-2 in the NFC North. Sitting at 5-3 in a division where all four teams are at .500 or better, the margin for error for the Lions has become even slimmer as the season goes past its halfway mark.
The loss was followed by a quiet trade deadline for the team, as there weren’t many options available to help bolster an offensive line that suffered a rash of injuries during the Vikings game.
Injuries have also derailed the Commanders’ season, with quarterback Jayden Daniels being in and out of the lineup this season as Washington comes into this game at 3-6 after losing four consecutive games. Daniels will miss this rematch after suffering an arm injury in last week’s loss against the Seahawks.
Follow along here for live updates from Detroit News contributor Kameron Goodwill.
Lions at Commanders
▶ Kickoff: 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Northwest Stadium, Landover, Maryland
▶ TV/radio: FOX/97.1 FM
▶ Records: Lions are 5-3; Commanders are 3-6
▶ Line: Lions by 8½
▶ Series: Washington leads, 32-16, including postseason (Last meeting: Jan. 18, 2025 — Commanders 45, (at) Lions 31, NFC divisional playoff round)
Washington
Wisconsin fans storm field after Badgers beat Washington, snap six-game losing skid
Wisconsin fans storm field after Badgers break six-game losing streak
Wisconsin football fans stormed the field at Camp Randall Stadium after the Badgers’ 13-10 win over Washington.
The bars are staying open late tonight in Madison, Wisconsin.
For the first time in 63 days, Wisconsin football has won a game, as the Badgers defeated Washington 13-10 at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8. It is the first win for Luke Fickell’s squad in Big Ten play, moving their conference record this season to 1-5.
Given the drought the Badgers were on, fans didn’t hold back from getting their postgame celebrations underway as they stormed the field as the clock went triple zeros.
Wisconsin entered the week on a six-game losing skid, which featured losses to then-No. 19 Alabama, then-No. 20 Michigan, No. 1 Ohio State and two unranked defeats at home against Maryland and Iowa. The Badgers were a 10.5-point underdog against Washington, which was ranked No. 23 in the College Football Playoff top 25.
The Badgers also entered Saturday’s Big Ten game in a scoring drought at home, as they were shut out in back-to-back games against Iowa (37-0) and Ohio State (34-0) in their previous two home games. That drought was snapped at the 13:44 mark of the first quarter when Nathanial Vakos hit a 42-yard field goal.
The eventual game winner for the Badgers on Saturday against Washington was a 32-yard field goal from Vakos at the end of the third quarter. Badgers punter Sean West finished as the team’s leading passer, as he completed a 24-yard completion on a fake punt attempt.
Here’s another look at the field storming at Camp Randall from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s John Steppe:
The win also comes just a few days after Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh announced Fickell would return for the 2026 college football season amid the Badgers’ struggles.
“I can see a path forward,” McIntosh told the Journal Sentinel on Thursday on keeping Fickell. “I can see a plan that we can execute and I can see a way for us to be successful and competitive in ‘26 and beyond.
Does the Big Ten fine teams for rushing the field?
No. Unlike the SEC, Big 12 and ACC, there is no fine in place for fans who rush the field in the Big Ten. According to an ESPN article from Feb. 26, 2024, the Big Ten does have “punishments” in place for such events.
“• Big Ten: A discretionary fine can result on a third offense for failure to “provide adequate security for visiting teams from their arrival for a game through their departure.” There is a private reprimand for a first offense; a public reprimand for second.”
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Washington
Dallas faces Washington on 3-game road skid
Dallas Mavericks (2-7, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Washington Wizards (1-8, 15th in the Eastern Conference)
Washington; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mavericks -3.5; over/under is 228.5
BOTTOM LINE: Dallas hits the road against Washington looking to break its three-game road skid.
Washington finished 18-64 overall with an 8-33 record at home during the 2024-25 season. The Wizards averaged 108.0 points per game while allowing opponents to score 120.4 last season.
Dallas went 39-43 overall with a 17-25 record on the road last season. The Mavericks averaged 25.2 assists per game on 42.0 made field goals last season.
The teams square off for the second time this season. The Wizards won 117-107 in the last matchup on Oct. 25. Kyshawn George led the Wizards with 34 points, and Anthony Davis led the Mavericks with 27 points.
INJURIES: Wizards: Kyshawn George: day to day (illness), Bilal Coulibaly: day to day (leg).
Mavericks: Anthony Davis: day to day (leg), Kyrie Irving: out (knee), Dante Exum: day to day (knee), Dereck Lively II: out (knee).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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