Federal judge says she would block Trump's birthright citizenship order nationwide

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 6:19 PM EDT, July 16, 2025


GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge in Maryland could soon become the second to block President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship from taking effect nationwide, if an appeals court were to allow it.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman said in an opinion Wednesday that she would grant class action status on behalf of all children affected by the order and grant a preliminary injunction blocking it. But she did not immediately rule, noting a previous decision of hers to block the order was on appeal to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court and that court would have to return the case to her.

Boardman said an immediate ruling from her would “promote judicial efficiency and economy because it would enable the Fourth Circuit to consider the merits of a class-wide preliminary injunction sooner rather than later.”

A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a ruling last week prohibiting Trump’s executive order from taking effect nationwide. U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante issued a preliminary injunction and certified a class action lawsuit including all children who will be affected. The order, which followed an hour-long hearing, included a seven-day stay to allow for appeal.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/birthright-citizenship-trump-immigration-maryland-72d734dac006ea49d5a6b136f483eb21

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Maddow Blog-Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship blocked by federal judge

The Supreme Court left open a door to challenging the executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The ACLU walked right through.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/birthright-citizenship-class-action-trump-executive-order-rcna218023

Trump’s order, however, continues to fare poorly in the courts. NBC News reported:

A federal judge in New Hampshire granted class-action status to a lawsuit seeking to protect babies who would be denied birthright citizenship by the Trump administration and granted a temporary block of the order restricting birthright citizenship from going into effect throughout the country. The suit was brought on behalf of a pregnant immigrant, immigrant parents and their infants and had sought class action status for all babies around the country who would be affected by Trump’s executive order and their parents.

NBC News’ report added that the judge in the case “ordered a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking Trump’s order from going into effect, but stayed his order for seven days, allowing the government time to appeal” — which it almost certainly will.

The ruling in the case was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante, who was appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush.

While readers might’ve seen headlines about a related Supreme Court ruling last month, as my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, the justices’ highly controversial opinion focused largely on the judiciary’s authority, not on the underlying constitutional issue and the legality of Trump’s order itself.

Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which left open the possibility of using class action lawsuits to challenge the White House’s policy, the ACLU filed just such a case. On Thursday morning, it scored a key victory. Watch this space.