A federal judge in New Hampshire said Thursday he’ll certify a class action lawsuit that includes all children who’ll be affected by President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship and issue a preliminary injunction blocking it from taking effect.
The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Joseph N. Laplante, a George W. Bush appointee, was made from the bench. He’s giving the government a seven-day delay for it to appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The court hereby finds that Class Petitioners have demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits of their claims; that Class Petitioners are likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order is not granted; that the potential harm to the class petitioners if the order is not granted outweighs the potential harm to Respondents if the order is granted; and that the issuance of this order is in the public interest,” read a brief order from the judge issued Thursday.
“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 American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, which argued the case.
“We are fighting to ensure President Trump doesn’t trample on the citizenship rights of one single child.”
On the final day of the Supreme Court’s 2024-25 term, the justices in a 6-3 ruling said lower court judges issuing nationwide injunctions likely run afoul of the Judiciary Act of 1789. The case at issue was over Mr. Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship.
But the question that came to the court focused on the authority of district court judges to block nationwide policies after a district court judge issued a nationwide halt to the birthright citizenship order.
In the majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, said challengers could file class actions as a way to contest executive policies and receive universal relief.
Hours after the high court’s decision, the ACLU filed its class action suit, representing a pregnant woman and other families who had children born since the president signed the birthright citizenship order.
They challenge the order as being unconstitutional.
The injunction will block the order from taking effect while the litigation continues on the constitutionality of the birthright citizenship order.
The case is Barbara v. Donald J. Trump.
