Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order

A federal judge in New Hampshire has issued a preliminary injunction blocking a controversial executive order by US president Donald Trump that aimed to restrict birthright citizenship for certain US-born individuals. The injunction issued as a part of a certified class action lawsuit halts the enforcement of a January order of Trump.

The order denied citizenship to individuals born in the US to mothers residing unlawfully or with temporary status and fathers who were neither US citizens nor lawful permanent residents at the time of birth. The Trump administration justified the policy by interpreting the 14th Amendment's phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" as a ground to limit automatic citizenship. However, critics argued that the move violated the constitutional protection.

“Tens of thousands of babies and their parents may be exposed to the order’s myriad harms in just weeks and need an injunction now,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in court documents filed Tuesday. The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents, and their US-born infants. Although several federal judges had previously issued nationwide injunctions against the order, the US Supreme Court, in a ruling on June 27, curtailed those broader blocks to take specific actions within 30 days.