OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
3:57 PM – Thursday, July 10, 2025
A federal judge has attempted to block the Trump administration from enforcing its executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship on a nationwide scale, despite a recent Supreme Court decision curtailing the scope of nationwide injunctions against presidential policies.
On July 10th, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante, presiding in Concord, New Hampshire, issued the ruling after immigrant rights advocates petitioned the court to grant class action status to a lawsuit challenging the directive.
The liberal plaintiffs sought to represent all children of illegal aliens living in the U.S. “whose citizenship could be imperiled” by the policy’s enforcement.
By certifying the case as a class action, Laplante enabled a renewed nationwide injunction, effectively halting the implementation of Trump’s executive order across the country. He characterized the decision to grant an injunction as unequivocal, stating that he worried the implementation of Trump’s order could result in children being stripped of their U.S. citizenship.
“That’s irreparable harm, citizenship alone,” he stated. “It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.”
The judge also announced that he would temporarily stay his ruling for several days to permit the Trump administration to file an appeal, and he pledged to issue a detailed written opinion by the end of the day.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with other plaintiffs, initiated the lawsuit mere hours after the Supreme Court, on June 27th, delivered a 6-3 decision—which curtailed three nationwide injunctions previously issued by lower courts in distinct challenges to Trump’s directive.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of illegal aliens residing in the United States whose children could be affected. Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s pro-Trump ruling, the GOP president’s executive order is slated to take effect on July 27th.
Seeking to exploit an exception outlined in the Supreme Court’s decision, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the ruling permits judges to continue enjoining Trump’s policies on a nationwide scale through class action litigation.
Despite the fact that the 14th Amendment specifically established citizenship rights for formerly enslaved African Americans and their children, following the Civil War and end of slavery, the three judges who issued nationwide injunctions similarly argued that Trump’s directive likely contravenes the citizenship clause of the Amendment.
They reiterated that even though the Amendment had only pertained to African American slaves and their children at the time, its contemporary interpretation must extend to all “persons born or naturalized in the United States” who are “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has maintained that Trump’s order is consistent with the U.S. Constitution and it has petitioned Judge Laplante to determine that the plaintiffs lack standing to proceed as a class.
Trump’s executive order instructs federal agencies to withhold recognition of citizenship from U.S.-born children unless at least one parent is either a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident, commonly referred to as a “green card” holder.
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