U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante announced his decision after an hour-long hearing and said a written order will follow.
A federal judge on Thursday has barred the Trump administration from enforcing the president’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, coming weeks after the Supreme Court restricted the capacity of judges to issue nationwide injunctions.
U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante announced his decision after an hour-long hearing and said a written order will follow. The order will include a seven-day stay to allow for appeal, he said.
“That’s irreparable harm, citizenship alone,” he said in court, according to reporters in the courtroom, referring to American citizenship. “It is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.”
President Donald Trump in January issued the order ending automatic birthright citizenship to individuals born in the United States to parents who are illegal immigrants. Multiple federal judges have issued injunctions against the order since it was issued, while the Supreme Court invalidated those previous court orders by ruling that lower courts cannot issue sweeping orders that block orders nationwide.
LaPlante addressed the Supreme Court’s order, saying in Thursday’s hearing that previously, he “was the judge who wasn’t comfortable with issuing a nationwide injunction” and that “class-action is different.” He added that his interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling suggested that “class-action is a better option,” it was reported.
At issue is the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which says that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other plaintiffs, had argued that the executive order violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment and runs afoul of decades of jurisprudence over how to handle birthright citizenship.
But lawyers for the Trump administration have argued that under that text, the United States can deny citizenship to children born of illegal immigrant women due to the line, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
“Prior misimpressions of the citizenship clause have created a perverse incentive for illegal immigration that has negatively impacted this country’s sovereignty, national security, and economic stability,” government lawyers said in court papers filed earlier this year, arguing on behalf of the Trump administration.
