Judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship ban for a class of all babies
This is the first injunction blocking Trump's order for all babies since the Supreme Court restrained nationwide injunctions.
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Concord, N.H. (ARN) — A federal judge issued an injunction today blocking the application of Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship ban against all babies potentially affected by it.
It’s the first big test of the federal judiciary to restrain Trump’s unconstitutional or illegal actions since the Supreme Court all but abolished the use of nationwide injunctions in CASA v. Trump.
However, in that case, the Supreme Court allowed universal injunctions in class action lawsuits, provided that a large enough class can pass the rigors of certification.
On Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante ruled that it had.
Referring to U.S. citizenship, Judge Laplante said: “It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world,” and he said removing it is the “definition of irreparable harm,” the standard for an injunction. A George W. Bush appointee, Laplante previously declined to give a prior injunction that blocked birthright citizenship nationwide application, but he said that a class action is different, giving him the ability to grant relief to a class of all impacted babies.
In a 38-page written order, Laplante added that he had “no difficulty concluding that the rapid adoption by executive order, without legislation and the attending national debate, of a new government policy of highly questionable constitutionality that would deny citizenship to many thousands of individuals previously granted citizenship under an indisputably longstanding policy, constitutes irreparable harm.”
More than 150,000 newborns a year would be denied citizenship every year under Trump’s order, advocates have estimated.
Trump had titled his executive order “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” and the Justice Department’s lawyer Eric Hamilton echoed that framing in calling U.S. citizenship the “greatest privilege in the world.”
Laplante noted that Hamilton “chose that word carefully,” describing it as a “privilege” rather than a “right” protected by a constitutional amendment.
Ultimately, Laplante found that the legal issue was “just not a close call.”
He promised to issue a written opinion laying out his reasoning later today.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s attorney Cody Wofsy, who argued in court, called the issue an “absolutely vital” one crying out for immediate relief.
“Now is the exact time that we need this relief,” Wofsy said.
Earlier in the proceedings, Wofsy said that members of New Hampshire’s immigrant community have been “concerned, confused and terrified” by the Supreme Court’s order stopping the nationwide injunctions.
“These families wondered to us whether they should move to a different state before they give birth,” he said.
Trump’s ban had been expected to take effect on July 27.
Judge Laplante issued a seven-day stay of his order for the appellate process to play out, but that pause of his ruling will make no practical difference. Trump’s order will not be effective during this period.
Check out
’s interview with me on this ruling in the video below.
Thank God and the lower courts! Resistance at last!
This doesn't matter compared to the underlying issues, but thank you for doing what so few media outlets do in pieces like this one--actually linking to the court's order.