A federal judge in New Hampshire has once again blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, despite a recent US Supreme Court ruling that restricted the use of nationwide injunctions against his policies.
US District Judge Joseph Laplante in Concord ruled on Thursday after immigrant rights advocates requested class action status for their lawsuit. The suit seeks to represent any newborns whose US citizenship could be jeopardized if Trump’s directive were implemented, reports Reuters.
Agreeing to certify the plaintiffs as a class, Laplante issued a new nationwide injunction halting the policy. He stated that the decision to block the order was clear-cut: “That’s irreparable harm, citizenship alone,” Laplante said. “It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.”
Although the Supreme Court’s June 27 decision, passed 6-3 by its conservative majority, limited the scope of such injunctions, the plaintiffs argued it left room for nationwide blocks in certified class actions. The lawsuit, supported by the ACLU and other advocates, was filed the same day as the high court’s ruling, and it represents non-US citizens in the US whose children might be affected by the order.
Under that ruling, Trump’s executive order had been scheduled to take effect on July 27. However, Laplante said he would stay his ruling for seven days to allow time for an appeal and promised to issue a written opinion by day’s end.
The Trump administration, which has argued that the order complies with the Constitution, had asked the court to deny class certification. But Laplante and three other federal judges who previously issued nationwide injunctions have found the order likely violates the 14th Amendment, which guarantees that all “persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
The White House has not yet responded to a request for comment. The Supreme Court has not ruled on the constitutional merits of Trump’s executive order, which was part of his aggressive immigration agenda and announced on his first day back in office this January.
