A US judge has intervened once more to prevent President Donald Trump from implementing an executive order that aims to revoke birthright citizenship for specific groups of resident infants. This decision comes from a New Hampshire court, which approved a class action lawsuit initiated by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) representing immigrant parents and their newborns.
This ruling emerges in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision that introduced limitations on federal courts' ability to issue universal injunctions. The class action suit is aligned with the new standards established by the Supreme Court, which have sparked extensive legal discussions across the country.
In response to the ruling, the White House has expressed strong disapproval. Spokesman Harrison Fields criticized the ruling as an unlawful attempt to bypass the Supreme Court’s directive against universal relief, claiming it undermines the legitimacy of judicial authority. "The Trump Administration will fight vigorously against district court judges who obstruct the policies President Trump was elected to implement,” Fields asserted.
The US Constitution currently guarantees citizenship to anyone born on American soil. However, President Trump has sought to alter this for children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary visitors, asserting that such a measure is part of a broader, stringent immigration policy. The current class action lawsuit posits that the president's executive order is not only harmful but unconstitutional, and the ruling permits it to progress on behalf of these potentially affected children.
The judge's order once again puts a pause on a policy that has been a key focus for Trump's administration since he took office. Following the judge's decision, the government has been allotted a week to file an appeal. Trump's pursuit to restrict birthright citizenship has faced numerous legal obstacles, with various courts across the US issuing nationwide injunctions while deliberating the constitutional merits of his order. Though the Supreme Court's conservative majority partially sided with Trump in a recent ruling, they refrained from addressing the underlying constitutionality of the birthright citizenship issue.
