Left-Wing Legal Coalition Sues Trump Over ‘America’s Most Fundamental Promise’
Hours after the Supreme Court delivered the Trump administration a major victory Friday by ruling lower courts may issue nationwide injunctions only in limited instances, a coalition of liberal legal groups filed a sweeping new class-action lawsuit in New Hampshire federal court. It takes aim at President Donald Trump’s January executive order that redefines who qualifies for U.S. citizenship at birth.
While the justices’ 6-3 ruling leaves open the question of how the ruling will apply to the birthright citizenship order at the heart of the case, Friday’s lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the Constitution by denying citizenship to children born on U.S. soil if their mothers are either unlawfully present or temporarily in the country and their fathers are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus and Democracy Defenders Fund. It seeks to represent a proposed class of children born under the terms of the executive order and their parents.
It is not the first legal challenge to the policy. The same group filed a separate suit in January 2025 in the same court on behalf of advocacy organizations with members expecting children who would be denied citizenship under the order. That case led to a ruling protecting members of those groups and is now pending before the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments scheduled for Aug. 1.
Friday’s SCOTUS ruling states that lower courts can no longer block federal policies nationwide unless it’s absolutely necessary to give full relief to the people suing. The decision does not say whether Trump’s birthright citizenship order is legal, but it means the order could take effect in parts of the country while legal challenges continue. The court gave lower courts 30 days to review their existing rulings. (Read more from “Left-Wing Legal Coalition Sues Trump Over ‘America’s Most Fundamental Promise’” HERE)
