Courts Block Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order, Despite Supreme Court Opening

Efforts by President Donald Trump to end birthright citizenship have hit a major legal wall — despite a Supreme Court ruling that many thought would clear the path for enforcement.

Just a month ago, the Supreme Court limited the broad use of nationwide injunctions, potentially giving the Trump administration room to proceed with its controversial executive order. But that has not materialized. Instead, a trio of recent rulings by lower courts has stalled — and possibly doomed — the policy.

A federal judge in New Hampshire earlier this month issued a fresh nationwide injunction through a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). That decision, handed down by Judge Joseph LaPlante, an appointee of George W. Bush, has not been appealed by the Department of Justice.

In a parallel development, a federal appeals court ruled last week that an earlier nationwide injunction — from a Seattle judge — was not an overreach, despite the Supreme Court’s guidance on limiting such orders. The Ninth Circuit backed the broader injunction, stating:

“We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the states complete relief.”

That ruling not only upheld the injunction but also challenged the core legality of the policy itself. The appellate panel declared Trump’s executive order unconstitutional, marking a significant setback.

A third blow came on Friday. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston refused to narrow his earlier injunction, saying it would not “feasibly and adequately protect” against the harms argued by Democratic attorneys general and other plaintiffs. He doubled down on his stance, writing that the executive order “is unconstitutional and contrary to a federal statute.”

Though the Supreme Court’s June 27 decision focused on judicial procedure — not the constitutionality of Trump’s order — it prompted many to expect swift movement from the administration. Yet, according to DOJ attorney Eric Hamilton, the path forward remains unclear.

“It’s an unusual situation, what the Supreme Court did,” he told Judge Sorokin earlier this month.

The Trump administration has so far avoided outlining how enforcement would look once the 30-day pause granted by the justices expired. While the Supreme Court allowed agencies to prepare internal guidance, Hamilton admitted,

“The agencies are right now working on public guidance to explain how the President’s executive order is going to be implemented.”

No such plan has been made public to date.

The executive order, signed by Trump on January 20 and titled “PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP,” aimed to withhold citizenship documents from children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or those in the country temporarily. The move directly contradicted decades of legal precedent, most notably the 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, and the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to all born on U.S. soil.

Legal experts say the Trump administration took a calculated approach by initially appealing only the scope of the injunctions rather than the constitutionality of the order itself.

“The Trump administration was very purposeful and strategic in their decision to go to the Supreme Court on the question of what remedy can people get when they challenge executive actions, as opposed to the merits of this particular executive order,” said Jessica Levinson, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School.

More court challenges loom. In Maryland, Judge Deborah Boardman, who already blocked Trump’s order once, signaled she would do so again — now under a class-action framework. However, a Richmond-based appeals court must first return the case to her court.

With every court that has reviewed the order finding it unconstitutional, Trump’s controversial effort to end birthright citizenship may never see full enforcement.

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