By Vanguard Staff
CONCORD, N.H. – A federal court in New Hampshire issued a sweeping ruling Thursday that blocks the Trump administration’s controversial executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship and certified a nationwide class of families whose children would have been denied citizenship under the order.
The case, Barbara v. Donald J. Trump, was brought immediately after the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Trump v. CASA, which narrowed previously granted nationwide injunctions and opened the door for partial enforcement of President Trump’s directive. That ruling spurred the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a coalition of legal organizations to file a class-action suit on June 27 seeking to protect all children born on U.S. soil.
In a decision delivered from the bench, Judge Joseph N. Laplante of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a classwide preliminary injunction. He found that the class of petitioners had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, faced irreparable harm without relief, and that the public interest favored blocking the executive order.
“Class Petitioners are likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order is not granted,” the court stated, further concluding that “the issuance of this order is in the public interest.”
The court enjoined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Agriculture, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from enforcing Trump’s executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The injunction will take effect after a seven-day stay, giving the government time to seek a stay from the First Circuit Court of Appeals if it chooses to do so.
“This ruling is a huge victory and will help protect the citizenship of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution intended,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued the case. “We are fighting to ensure President Trump doesn’t trample on the citizenship rights of one single child.”
The case represents a major turning point in the ongoing legal and political battle over the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which affirms that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The lawsuit was filed by a coalition of advocacy groups including the ACLU’s national office, the ACLU of New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, the Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Law Caucus, and the Democracy Defenders Fund. They brought the challenge on behalf of all children at risk of being denied citizenship by Trump’s executive order, which critics say would create a “second class” of Americans based solely on ancestry.
“This morning, the federal court in New Hampshire agreed once again that President Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “Our Constitution ensures that no politician can decide who among those born in this country is worthy of citizenship.”
The order had already been challenged in multiple lawsuits across the country. A similar case filed in January 2025 in the same court protected members of the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, LULAC, and Make the Road New York. That earlier case is currently pending before the First Circuit, with oral arguments scheduled for August 1.
However, in Trump v. CASA, the Supreme Court signaled that nationwide injunctions should be narrowed, potentially leaving some families without protection. This latest class-action suit was filed in response to that narrowing, seeking to close legal gaps and extend constitutional protection to all impacted babies born on U.S. soil.
“Today’s decision is a powerful affirmation of the 14th Amendment and the enduring principle that citizenship in the United States is a right by birth, not a privilege granted by politics,” said Morenike Fajana, senior counsel of the Legal Defense Fund. “By granting nationwide class certification and blocking the executive order from taking effect, the court has sent a clear message: all children born on U.S. soil are entitled to the full rights and protections of citizenship.”
“This court’s injunction protecting birthright citizenship for all affected children is a major victory for families across this country and for all Americans,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus. “This ruling reaffirms that constitutional rights cannot be stripped away by executive decree.”
Legal experts say the ruling is likely to be a pivotal moment in Trump’s immigration agenda, which has sought to restrict pathways to citizenship and expand deportation authority. The court’s decision explicitly restrains federal agencies from implementing any part of the executive order targeting birthright citizenship while the litigation proceeds.
“Today’s decision is a victory for our plaintiffs, and millions of families across this country, who deserve clarity and stability,” said Tianna Mays, legal director for Democracy Defenders Fund. “The fight to uphold the guarantee of birthright citizenship is far from over and we will continue to advocate to ensure we keep that promise.”
In the ruling, Judge Laplante also imposed a nominal bond of $1 as required under federal civil procedure rules. The court noted that while the certified class was narrower than originally proposed, it nonetheless encompassed all individuals at risk of losing birthright citizenship under the Trump directive.
The plaintiffs argue that the executive order violates the plain text of the 14th Amendment, Supreme Court precedent dating back to United States v. Wong Kim Ark in 1898, and more than a century of legal understanding that citizenship is conferred by birth in the U.S., regardless of ancestry or immigration status of the parents.
“The Trump administration’s executive order is an unlawful attempt to entrench racial hierarchies and establish a second class of citizens in the United States,” said Karla McKanders, director of the Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute. “We will continue working to ensure that birthright citizenship — a right granted by the U.S. Constitution — is protected.”
For many legal advocates, the case is not only about the rights of children born today but also about resisting broader authoritarian attempts to redefine who counts as American.
“While some of this week’s decisions have the potential to shift our legal strategies, they will not change the commitments the ACLU has held for over 100 years,” said Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of the ACLU of Maine. “The constitutional principles that form the foundation of freedom in this country have always been challenging, complex, and multifaceted. The president’s executive order violates the plain language of the 14th Amendment and flouts fundamental American values.”
“For more than 125 years, birthright citizenship has made the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is,” added Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The Trump administration wants to end that right and create a permanent subclass with no vote, no voice, and no due process protection. We simply won’t let that happen.”
The ruling marks the second time in 2025 that this federal court has found Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship to be unconstitutional. Though the administration may appeal, the legal and political stakes surrounding this issue continue to intensify in the lead-up to the November election, where immigration and civil rights remain flashpoints in the national debate.
