Judge Blocks Trump Ban on Birthright Citizenship

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's ban on birthright citizenship from going into effect nationwide, reports the Washington Post. US District Judge Joseph Laplante of New Hampshire did so by agreeing to certify a legal challenge brought by the ACLU as a class-action lawsuit. All of this follows a Supreme Court decision that limited the ability of federal judges to impose national injunctions—leaving class-action suits as one of the few remaining options to get them imposed, per the New York Times.

The ACLU filed the suit immediately after the SCOTUS ruling in an apparent attempt to test the idea. Trump has been seeking to end the practice of bestowing automatic citizenship on anyone born in the country. The Supreme Court's earlier ruling, while not addressing the legality of Trump's initiative, had nevertheless paved the way for states to start enforcing the ban. Thursday's ruling now prevents states from doing that.