A federal judge agreed Thursday, July 10, 2025 to issue a new nationwide block against President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, according to CNN.
The ruling from US District Judge Joseph Laplante is significant because the Supreme Court last month curbed the power of lower court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, while keeping intact the ability of plaintiffs to seek a widespread block of the order through class action lawsuits, which is what happened Thursday in New Hampshire.
Ruling from the bench, Laplante granted a request from immigration rights attorneys to certify a nationwide class that “will be comprised only of those deprived of citizenship” and issued a preliminary injunction indefinitely blocking Trump’s Day One order from being enforced against born and unborn babies who would be impacted by the policy.
“The preliminary injunction is just not a close call to the court,” Laplante said during a hearing. “The deprivation of US citizenship and an abrupt change of policy that was longstanding … that’s irreparable harm.”
US citizenship, the judge added, “is the greatest privilege that exists in the world.”
The judge, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said he would pause his order for several days to give the Trump administration time to appeal his decision.
Laplante’s ruling could prove to be a critical bulwark against Trump’s policy as other courts scramble to take a second look at their decisions in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
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