Two national immigrants’ rights organizations, CASA Inc. and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), have taken legal action to block an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump that aims to terminate birthright citizenship. On Friday, the groups filed a federal class-action lawsuit following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that restricts lower courts’ authority to issue nationwide injunctions on federal policies, although it allows for class-wide relief. The plaintiffs are now seeking class certification for all children born in the United States from February 19, 2025, whose parents are neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents.
Trump’s executive order challenges the principles established by the Fourteenth Amendment and violates federal statute (8 USC § 1401) that guarantee birthright citizenship to children born on U.S. soil, irrespective of their parents’ immigration status. The emergency motion for a temporary restraining order argues that, without class-wide relief, thousands of children could be unjustly stripped of their constitutional rights.
The amended complaint has been filed in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits lower courts in issuing broad injunctions. In Trump v. CASA, Inc., the court asserted that such relief should be confined to litigants, except when pursued through class actions. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, cautioning that this approach could undermine constitutional safeguards for untied individuals.
The executive order, signed on January 20, 2025, denies citizenship to children born to undocumented or temporarily authorized immigrants. As thousands of children are born each week to noncitizen parents, plaintiffs argue for emergency class-wide injunctive relief to prevent the executive order’s enforcement and preserve these children’s rights. For more detailed information, visit the full article on JURIST.