In brief:
New Hampshire federal court halts Trump executive order targeting birthright citizenship
Nationwide class certified to protect all children born on U.S. soil
Civil rights groups hail ruling as crucial defense of the 14th Amendment
A federal court in New Hampshire Friday blocked President Trump’s controversial executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, delivering a significant victory to civil rights groups who argued the policy violates the U.S. Constitution.
The ruling, issued from the bench, also certified a nationwide class protecting the citizenship rights of all children born in the United States. Trump administration attorneys called the action an attempted "end run" around the Supreme Court, although Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested the action a few weeks ago.
The case, Barbara v. Donald J. Trump, emerged amid legal battles following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. CASA, which opened the door for potential partial enforcement of the executive order.
The lawsuit, filed on June 27, was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and several allied organizations. The groups represent a proposed class of babies who would have been subject to the executive order’s restrictions.
“This ruling is a huge victory and will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrant’s Rights Project, who argued the case in court.
Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, praised the decision as “once again affirming that President Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.” Chaffee underscored that the Constitution ensures no politician can decide who is worthy of citizenship among those born in the country.
Seven-day delay granted
The ruling includes a seven-day delay to allow the federal government time to seek emergency relief from the First Circuit Court of Appeals. However, even if an appeal is pursued, the injunction is set to go into effect well before July 27 — the date on which partial implementation of the executive order might otherwise have begun.
Morenike Fajana, senior counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, called the decision “a powerful affirmation of the 14th Amendment and the enduring principle that citizenship in the United States is a right by birth, not a privilege granted by politics.”
Civil rights advocates hailed the ruling as a critical safeguard against what they describe as an unprecedented attack on constitutional principles. “Parents have lived in fear and uncertainty,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus. “This court’s injunction protecting birthright citizenship for all affected children is a major victory for families across this country.”
A growing judicial consensus
The decision underscores a growing judicial consensus rejecting attempts to narrow the Constitution’s promise of birthright citizenship, with Molly Curren Rowles of the ACLU of Maine emphasizing that the United States has “always been a nation of immigrants.”
Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, concluded that birthright citizenship “makes our country strong and vibrant,” describing the executive order as “simply un-American.”
Class actions ride again
Class actions have come to be associated with consumer issues — defective products, stock manipulation, etc. — but they were initially designed as a way for citizens to collectively contest government actions.
The Supreme Court itself explicitly opened the way to class actions against the federal government when Justice Coney Barrett suggested that litigants in Trump vs. CASA could use the class action as a way around the Trump administration's blocking of nationwide injunctions.
It’s among several exceptions or workarounds that Trump adversaries are poised to seize on after the justices sharply limited judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions.