Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on July 10 placed a new, temporary nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s executive order to end the practice of birthright citizenship as part of a class action lawsuit, a different legal procedure after the Supreme Court previously limited the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.

In June, the high court found that universal injunctions issued by federal judges to block that order resulting from lawsuits filed over it “likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts.”

However, the 6-3 decision did leave in place judges’ ability to pause such orders as part of class action lawsuits, or suits where an individual sues on behalf of a broader group of individuals, or “class,” who are similarly impacted.

Judge Joseph N. Laplante of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued the new class action injunction, ruling from the bench that the class in question “will be comprised only of those deprived of citizenship,” blocking the order’s enforcement against babies and unborn children the order would otherwise affect.

Laplante did stay his order for seven days, allowing time for the Trump administration to appeal.

The Supreme Court did not directly rule on the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order itself. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority that “When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”

If enforced, Trump’s order would end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents without legal status or temporary visa holders.

The 14th Amendment states, “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.”

Despite arguments from Trump when he signed the order in January and ones he has repeated since that the U.S. is “the only country in the world that does this,” the United States is one of at least 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, in which the principle of “jus soli” or “right of soil” applies. This legal principle grants citizenship at birth without restrictions, regardless of the citizenship status of the parents. Most of those countries are located in the Americas, and scholars trace the origins of the practice to colonial times. It also has origins in English common law.

Trump’s order, part of his administration’s broader effort to implement his hardline immigration policies, directed federal agencies to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates and other official documents to children born in the U.S. to parents without legal status or temporary visa holders. The order would not apply retroactively, Trump said.

The order is among the Trump administration’s immigration actions that have been met with criticism from the U.S. bishops.

“This (injunction) is good news, especially for the children who would have been rendered stateless by Trump’s executive order,” J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the New York-based Center for Migration Studies and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News.

“The administration will likely appeal again, but hopefully the nationwide injunction will stand until the courts rule on the constitutionality of his birthright citizenship order,” Appleby said. “Otherwise, we will see a new generation of would-be Americans without a nationality and subject to a mass deportation campaign.”