On Thursday, Federal Judge Joseph Laplante blocked President Donald Trump’s January 20th executive order ending birthright citizenship, applying a preliminary injunction nationwide.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling last month, which limited judges’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions, “lawsuits structured as class actions are effectively the only ones that can halt the president’s policies across broad sections of the country.” The order included a seven-day stay to allow for appeal.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.), was filed on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents, and their infants. It’s among numerous cases challenging President Trump’s January order denying citizenship to those born in the United States on or after Feb. 20 to parents living in the U.S. illegally or temporarily.
Judge Laplante argued that plaintiffs, including all children who would be affected, could be represented as a class, certifying the lawsuit as a class action, and blocked the executive order. Confirming the lawsuit as a class action was effectively the only way Laplante could impose such far-reaching limits after the Supreme Court’s June 27th ruling.
The Judge’s decision to issue an injunction was “not a close call.” Regarding the deprivation of U.S. citizenship, Judge Laplante said, “That’s irreparable harm, citizenship alone. It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.”
The Trump administration has fought to deny citizenship to children born to undocumented parents, ending birthright citizenship, a longstanding law laid out in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
“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, the deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “We are fighting to ensure President Trump doesn’t trample on the citizenship rights of one single child.”
