A federal judge blocked Trump's order that restricts birthright citizenship

On Thursday, a federal judge in New Hampshire once again blocked an executive order by President Donald Trumpthat sought to restrict the right to automatic citizenship by birth in the United States for children of parents who are neither citizens nor lawful permanent residents.

This judicial decision comes just two weeks after the Supreme Court limited the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, although it left open the possibility of granting protection through class action lawsuits.

Judge Joseph Laplante, appointed by former President George W. Bush, provisionally certified a class action lawsuit filed by immigrant rights advocates, which allowed him to issue a new preliminary order blocking the nationwide implementation of the measure.

This decision is based on an exception allowed by the Supreme Court in its recent ruling, which enables class actions as an alternative legal avenue to halt federal policies.

Trump's executive order, signed in January after returning to the presidency, instructed federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born on U.S. soil if their parents do not have at least one who is a citizen or a green card holder. If applied nationwide, this policy could deny citizenship to more than 150,000 newborns per year, according to the plaintiffs' estimates.

During the hearing, Laplante stated that denying citizenship to a child constitutes irreparable harm: "Citizenship is the greatest privilege that exists in the world."

For that reason, he described the decision to issue the injunction as "not a difficult decision" for the court. However, he temporarily suspended its implementation for seven days to give Trump's administration time to appeal, something a Department of Justice attorney confirmed they would do.

The decision comes after a series of judicial measures taken by federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington, who also blocked Trump's executive order for being considered unconstitutional.

All these judges relied on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and the historic 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, where the Supreme Court held that every child born in the United States has the right to citizenship regardless of their parents' immigration status.

However, the recent Supreme Court ruling on June 27 limited the so-called "universal injunctions" or nationwide injunctions that apply to people outside the specific case, which forced the courts to seek new legal strategies.

In that context, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) replied by filing new class action lawsuits, including the one that has now led to this decision by Laplante.

From the White House, spokesperson Harrison Fields strongly criticized the measure, calling it "an obvious and illegal attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's clear order against universal relief," and accused the judge of abusing the class action certification procedure.

"Trump's administration will fight vigorously against these rogue district judges who are trying to prevent the president from implementing the policies for which he was elected," he stated.