A federal judge again blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing his executive order limiting birthright citizenship. The ruling does so through an exception for class action lawsuits in the recent Supreme Court decision that found federal courts do not have the power to issue “universal” injunctions.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante in Concord, N.H., issued a preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s order and granted class action status to a lawsuit that immigrant rights advocates filed seeking to represent babies whose citizenship status would be threatened by implementation of Trump’s directive.
The executive order in question, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” said United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States when that person’s mother was either unlawfully present in the country or lawfully but temporarily present and the father was not a citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of the person’s birth. Thursday’s preliminary injunction indefinitely blocks the executive order from being enforced against any baby born after February 20, 2025.
“The preliminary injunction is just not a close call to the court,” the George W. Bush appointee said during a hearing. “The deprivation of US citizenship and an abrupt change of policy that was longstanding … that’s irreparable harm.”
In a class action lawsuit, one or more members of a class may sue as representative parties or “named plaintiffs” on behalf of all members of that class who have allegedly suffered the same injury. A preliminary injunction may be issued if plaintiffs show they will suffer irreparable harm — harm that cannot be remedied by money damages after the fact — if the injunction is not issued.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents and their infants. The plaintiffs are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and others.
The decision is the practical equivalent of a universal injunction but aligns with Supreme Court precedent. The 6-3 decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc. last month found that a federal court’s authority to enjoin government officials from enforcing a challenged law or policy extends only with respect to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The High Court’s decision allowed judges to continue blocking executive orders through third-party standing and class certification.
Laplante previously blocked the Trump administration from enforcing the executive order in February, but only against members of several nonprofit groups who would have been affected by it. He said at the time that Trump’s order violated the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
“I’m the judge who wasn’t comfortable with issuing a nationwide injunction. Class action is different,” the judge said at one point during Thursday’s hearing. “The Supreme Court suggested class action is a better option.”
Laplante stayed his preliminary injunction for seven days to give the government time to appeal.