On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) that strips certain children born in the United States of birthright citizenship, which was initially set to go into effect on February 19, 2025. The order declares that a child who is born in the United States is not a citizen if, at the time of the child’s birth, (1) their mother was either “unlawfully present in the United States” or the “mother’s presence in the United States . . . was lawful but temporary” and (2) their father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
This is an appeal in a class action lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of a proposed class of babies subject to the executive order and their parents. On July 10, the district court granted plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction and provisionally certified the class. The government appealed on September 5.
Technical Summary
The classwide preliminary injunction issued by the district court enjoined the enforcement of the birthright citizenship executive order. The provisional class certified is as follows: All current and future persons who are born on or after February 20, 2025, where (1) that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
