Federal Judge Joseph Laplante blocked nationwide President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.
Laplante made the decision following a class-action lawsuit, a new strategy that bypassed the Supreme Court’s decision to limit District courts from making rulings with nationwide impact.
The judge granted the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ request to certify a nationwide class-action lawsuit, in addition to issuing the block on Trump’s executive order.
“The preliminary injunction is not a difficult decision for the court,” the judge stated, arguing that denying citizenship to a newborn in the United States “is irreparable harm.”
The Trump Administration can appeal the decision, acknowledged the judge appointed by former President George W. Bush, but his ruling is significant in a new landscape where District court decisions may have nationwide impact.
Laplante was among the first judges to rule in an initial wave of lawsuits against Trump’s executive order, but his decision was blocked by the Supreme Court, which limited the nationwide reach of lower courts.
With the new class-action lawsuit, Judge Laplante opens the possibility that the legal battle over birthright citizenship—and what the 14th Amendment to the Constitution states—could reach an appeals court and, potentially, the Supreme Court, where justices could now rule on the merits of the case.
In this case, among the representatives of the class-action lawsuit are a Honduran asylum seeker residing in New Hampshire who is expecting a baby in October, and a Brazilian man seeking legal permanent residency whose wife gave birth in March.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs argued that if President Trump’s executive order remains in place, newborn children of undocumented immigrants will face “stigma” and various problems.
“These children will face numerous obstacles to living in the United States, including stigma and possible statelessness,” they stated.
The lawsuit was joined by the ACLU of New Hampshire, the ACLU of Maine, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Legal Defense Fund, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Democracy Forward Foundation on behalf of a proposed group of babies and their parents subject to Trump’s executive order.
Another Decision Pending
In late June, following the Supreme Court’s decision, another class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where a ruling is expected soon.
That lawsuit is led by a group of pregnant women: Maribel, Juana, Trinidad García, Mónica, Liza, Ashley, Andrea, and Niurka.
“Ultimately, we will be able to obtain protection through the class-action lawsuit for everyone in the country whose baby could potentially be covered by the executive order, assuming we succeed,” said William Powell, senior counsel at ICAP, at the time.
Image: Opinion
