Federal judge places new block on Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship

A federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday placed a new nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship, a decision that came two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court opened a path for the administration to begin enforcing the order.

During a court hearing, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante agreed to a request from civil rights groups to certify a class-action lawsuit against the administration on behalf of U.S.-born children or future children whose automatic citizenship could be jeopardized by the president’s executive order, lawyers for the plaintiffs said.

In a written order, Laplante said the petitioners “are likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order is not granted.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit June 27 after the Supreme Court backed Trump’s request to scale back nationwide injunctions from lower courts. For months, such orders had blocked the administration’s ban on automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors.

The high court, in a 6-3 decision, did not rule on whether Trump’s birthright order is constitutionally valid. The justices kept Trump’s ban on hold for at least 30 days and sent a set of cases back to the lower courts to determine the practical implications of their ruling.

They left open a path for challengers to try to continue to block the president’s policy nationwide through class-action lawsuits but also raised the possibility that birthright citizenship could be cut off in the 28 states that have not joined lawsuits against it.

“This is a major win for immigrant communities and these babies across the country,” Cody Wofsy, the ACLU’s lead attorney in the case, said in a phone interview. “The Supreme Court left a potential gap in protection, and this decision slams that gap shut and makes clear this order (from Trump) cannot be applied to anyone nationwide.”

In its lawsuit, the ACLU had sought to certify a class of petitioners that included the children whose citizenship could be affected by Trump’s order and their parents, but Laplante narrowed his order to cover only the children. Wofsy said that distinction would have no practical impact on the judge’s ruling.

Laplante stayed his order for seven days, which could allow the Trump administration time to pursue an appeal. The case could return quickly to the Supreme Court to determine whether the judge’s decision complies with its ruling last month.

Trump supporters criticized Laplante, reiterating Republican complaints that federal judges have slowed the president’s agenda.

“No one elected judges to make nationwide policy. This needs to end,” U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) wrote on X.

Trump’s executive order, which he signed Jan. 20, denies citizenship for children of unauthorized immigrants and foreigners on temporary work, student and tourist visas. It’s a population that some studies have found could number more than 150,000 a year. It is based on a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and grants citizenship to those born on U.S. soil who are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the federal government.

The administration has argued that undocumented immigrants and foreigners on temporary visas are not fully under U.S. jurisdiction and do not owe allegiance to the country; therefore, their children should not be awarded citizenship.

More than half a dozen groups – including two coalitions of Democratic-led states – filed lawsuits challenging the order. Three federal judges issued nationwide temporary injunctions blocking the Trump administration from implementing it, but their orders were essentially nullified by the Supreme Court’s ruling last month.

In February, in an initial case brought by the ACLU and other immigrant-rights groups, Laplante also issued an injunction against the birthright citizenship order. But he limited that order to cover only members of the groups that had pursued the lawsuit.

On Thursday, after agreeing to certify the class-action case on behalf of children nationwide, the judge reminded those in the court that he had initially been circumspect about blocking Trump’s order across the country. Laplante was appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush.

“It’s a better process to narrow these decisions and not have judges create national policy. That said, the Supreme Court suggested a class action is a better option,” Laplante said, according to Reuters.

Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), have resoundingly rebuked Trump’s executive order and celebrated news of the injunction.

“While the fight is not over, this is a positive step in making sure that our values and rights are protected,” Castro said on social media. “Being born in America makes you an American.”