The judge said states would face administrative and financial burdens from a narrower order.
A federal judge in Massachusetts has maintained his nationwide block on President Donald Trump’s policy restricting birthright citizenship, saying that a narrower injunction would be impractical and create too many problems for states that sued the administration.
“The record does not support a finding that any narrower option would feasibly and adequately protect the plaintiffs from the injuries they have shown they are likely to suffer if the unlawful policy announced in [Trump’s] Executive Order takes effect during the pendency of this lawsuit,” U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin said in an opinion on July 25.
Sorokin’s opinion came nearly a month after the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA, in which a majority of justices said nationwide injunctions likely exceeded the authority granted to courts by Congress. Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion left open some caveats, however, stating that judges should fashion their injunctions to provide complete relief for plaintiffs.
She noted this was complicated for plaintiff states given the nature of government programs and how people cross state lines. Sorokin said on July 25 that without a nationwide injunction, the plaintiff states—which included New Jersey, Massachusetts, and others—would face administrative and financial burdens because of Trump’s policy.
Sorokin stated that Trump’s policy was unconstitutional and contrary to federal law, but the Supreme Court will “no doubt” ultimately settle the question.
The Supreme Court’s decision had sent three nationwide injunctions back down to lower courts for further consideration. Since its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has also weighed in, upholding a nationwide block from a federal judge in Washington state.
The last of the three injunctions considered by the Supreme Court came from Maryland, where a federal judge said on July 16 she didn’t have jurisdiction at this point in litigation to issue a broad injunction. That’s because, she said, the issue was pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Separate from that lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union quickly followed the Supreme Court’s decision by asking a federal judge in New Hampshire to block Trump’s policy through an alternative legal mechanism known as a class action. The judge responded by temporarily blocking Trump’s policy for a provisional class of individuals, which was defined by those subject to Trump’s order.
The administration has offered multiple alternatives to nationwide injunctions for judges to consider. But according to Sorokin, none of the potential alternatives in his case would be workable or prevent certain harms.
By Sam Dorman
