


The Supreme Court on Friday handed the Trump administration a win by limiting the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions blocking the president’s agenda.
The justices ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in Trump v. Casa, siding with the Trump administration’s challenge to the scope of nationwide injunctions issued against Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order. The Court did not, however, weigh-in on the legality of the birthright-citizenship order itself.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion, finding that universal injunctions exceed the authority Congress has given to federal courts. Barrett was joined by the Court’s five other conservative justices.
The High Court ruled that lower courts cannot prevent the federal government from enforcing its policies against nonparties to the specific case they’re ruling on. For the time being, the justices have partially halted the nationwide injunctions against Trump’s executive order. They halted the injunctions in areas where their authority is too broad and prevent the executive branch from developing public guidance related to Trump’s executive order.
The justices did not address the merit’s of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order and urged lower courts to ensure their injunctions comply with the ruling. On day one, Trump signed an executive order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” declaring the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision does not apply to the children of illegal immigrants.
As expected, the order immediately faced legal challenges and three federal judges quickly halted it. The 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee dates back to the end of the Civil War, when citizenship was granted to newly freed black slaves. Trump and proponents of the executive order have argued birthright citizenship is being abused to incentivize mass illegal immigration.
The president and his supporters have strongly criticized perceived overreach among the federal judges who have blocked Trump’s executive actions. Federal judges have used temporary restraining orders and nationwide injunctions to halt Trump’s moves on a wide range of issues, including issues where the president has significant Constitutional authority, such as staffing the executive branch and enforcing immigration law.