On January 20, 2025, the same day President Trump issued an Executive Order that strips certain children born in the United States of birthright citizenship, several immigrant rights’ organizations (the ACLU, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund) brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of plaintiff membership organizations—New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support (NHIC), League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York (MRNY)—with members whose babies will be born in the United States and will be denied citizenship under the order. This case is the appeal of the district court judge’s order granting a preliminary injunction in Plaintiffs’ favor.
On October 3, 2025, the panel largely upheld the district court’s preliminary injunction that blocked the enforcement and implementation of the executive order, and remanded to the district court for further consideration. The panel did clarify that the injunction could not apply to President Trump directly, and instead must apply to agency officials, and vacated the injunction on that point.
Technical Summary:
Plaintiff membership organizations allege that President Trump’s Executive Order violates (1) the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (The Citizenship Clause); (2) federal statute (8 U.S.C. § 1401); (3) the APA under § 706(2)(B) as being contrary to constitutional right; and (4) the APA under § 706(2)(C) as being in excess of the applicable federal statute.
Plaintiffs seek declaratory relief and injunctive relief in enjoining defendants from enforcing the Executive Order.
