Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s ‘Birthright Citizenship’ Order

July 14—On July 10 the New Hampshire U.S. District Court Judge Joseph LaPlante issued an order blocking the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order 14160 which would end “birthright citizenship.” Judge LaPlante said that while the government’s arguments were not “frivolous,” however, he found them “unpersuasive,” and said that his decision to issue an injunction was “not a close call.” The judge said that depriving an individual of their citizenship “clearly amounted to irreparable harm,” and that U.S. citizenship “is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.” Trump's action to reverse this path to citizenship has drawn almost universal attack, as one of the most anti-American and stupidest part of his whole immigration agenda.

The judge gave a 30-day stay on his order to give Justice Department lawyers an opportunity to challenge the ruling. Any cases affected by the 30-day pause would be returned to lower courts to consider the consequences of the ruling. Birthright citizenship involves about 150,000 children each year. The U.S. is among about 30 countries, mostly in the “New World,” where birthright citizenship is applied.

The birthright citizenship issue centers on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” The Trump administration argues that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” allows the U.S. to deny citizenship to babies born in the U.S. if their parents were in the U.S. only temporarily or illegally. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon being born on U.S. soil were the children of foreign diplomats who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes.

Another issue in this case is the fact that on June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal district judges lack the authority to grant most nationwide or universal injunctions. However, the Supreme Court did not rule out other legal procedures which might result in a similar outcome, such as a class action lawsuit. This New Hampshire case is a class action suit. The White House issued a statement accusing Judge LaPlante of “abusing class action procedures,” and complained of “rogue district court judges” who impede policies that President Trump was elected to implement. Judge LaPlante was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2007 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 97 to 0