Tipsheet

Just Hours After SCOTUS Ruling, They Filed Another Challenge to Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order

Well, that didn’t take long. Just hours after the Supreme Court ruled against nationwide injunctions, the group that sued the White House over President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship has filed another lawsuit challenging the order.

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a significant ruling barring federal judges from issuing nationwide injunctions on the White House’s policies. The Court held that such actions can only apply to the actual plaintiffs in a particular case.

The majority asserted that the power to issue broad rulings must align with what courts were allowed to do at the time the Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789 were established. However, the ruling still allows for class-action lawsuits to be filed. Plaintiffs must go through the proper process for filing such a legal action.

That’s exactly what CASA, the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group that sued the administration, is trying to do. In an emergency court filing, the organization and other plaintiffs are asking the US District Court in Maryland to block Trump’s Executive Order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the US after February 19, 2025. 

The plaintiffs want a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction covering “All children who have been born or will be born in the United States on or after February 19, 2025, who are designated by Executive Order 14,160, to be ineligible for birthright citizenship, and their parents,” according to court documents.

CASA’s lawyers insist that Trump’s order is unconstitutional and that the high court “easily [found] the standard for a preliminary injunction” had been met. They further argue that the order would leave newborns “stateless—placing them at risk of removal and potential separation from other members of their family” while causing “an irreparable injury” to those affected.

Members of the Trump administration celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling during a Friday press conference shortly after the Supreme Court handed down a series of rulings favorable to the White House. Attorney General Pam Bondi excoriated Democrats for weaponizing the judiciary against the president.

"Activist liberal justices have used these injunctions to block virtually all of President Trump’s policies,” Bondi said. “To put this in perspective, there are 94 federal judicial districts. 5 of those districts throughout this country held 35 of the nationwide injunctions....35 out of the 40 opinions with nationwide injunctions came from five liberal districts in this country. No longer."

Still, this does not mean Trump’s executive order regarding birthright citizenship is safe. If CASA transforms its legal action into a class-action lawsuit, then the issue will continue to be litigated. This one might also make it to the Supreme Court, which will ultimately decide whether the policy survives legal scrutiny.