Posted on 07/10/25
| News Source: FOX News
A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked President Donald Trump's executive order banning birthright citizenship and granted nationwide class certification status to all infants impacted by the order on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante said that he will issue a written ruling by the end of the day further explaining his decision. The injunction also narrows down the scope of the class to infants, removing parents from the case.
In his order, LaPlante ruled that deprivation of citizenship, as held by the 14th Amendment, and changes in longstanding policy would create "irreparable harm."
Still, it is almost sure to be quickly appealed by the Trump administration. It comes after the Supreme Court reviewed the case earlier this year, and ruled 6-3 in late June that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file their cases as a class action lawsuit — narrowing the instances in which lower district courts can issue so-called universal injunctions.
That high court ruling narrowly focused on the authority of lower courts, and justices did not wade into the legality of Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship, which served as the legal pretext for the case.
Still, Justice Department officials told a federal judge last week they plan to begin enforcing Trump's birthright citizenship order as early as July 27, in recognition of a 30-day stay included in the Supreme Court's ruling, showing they plan to act quickly.
Trump's order, signed on the first day of his second White House term, directs all U.S. government agencies to refuse to issue citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants, or who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen of lawful permanent resident.