A federal judge in New Hampshire has ruled to block US President Donald Trump’s for some babies born in the United States.
US District Judge Joseph LaPlante said he will certify a class action lawsuit that includes all children who are set to be affected by Trump’s order.
What did the judge say?
LaPlante made the ruling after advocates asked him to expand their lawsuit to cover all children who could lose their citizenship under Trump’s policy.
The judge agreed to certify the case as a class action lawsuit — meaning it includes every baby whose citizenship status might be threatened.
The class is slightly narrower than that sought by the plaintiffs, who originally included parents as plaintiffs.
LaPlante also said he would issue a preliminary injunction — a legal order that stops the policy from taking effect for now.
What’s behind the latest case?
Trump’s executive order, issued in January, says that children born to parents living in the US illegally or temporarily should not automatically get citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which has guaranteed for more than 100 years that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.
The Trump administration argues a clause in the amendment, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof [the United States]” means babies born to people here illegally should not be covered.
Several federal judges around the country have already tried to block Trump’s order, but the recently ruled that lower court judges should not automatically issue injunctions that can be applied nationwide.
Instead, courts now need to limit their orders to just the people directly affected.
For this reason, groups suing Trump asked Judge LaPlante to make their case a class action.
By doing so, they include all families in the same situation — which makes the judge’s order much broader than it would be for just a few families.
Judge LaPlante said his order would include a seven-day pause to give the government time to appeal his decision.
Hundreds of protesters had rallied outside the Supreme Court in May, during arguments over the issue.
Similar lawsuits are happening in other states, including Maryland and Washington state, where judges are also deciding whether to block the order for large groups of people.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
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