A federal judge in New Hampshire blocked President Donald Trump's executive order banning birthright citizenship and granted nationwide class certification status to all infants impacted by the order on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Joseph LaPlante said that he will issue a written ruling by the end of the day further explaining his decision. The injunction also narrows down the scope of the class to infants, removing parents from the case.
In his order, LaPlante ruled that deprivation of citizenship, as held by the 14th Amendment, and changes in longstanding policy would create "irreparable harm."
Still, it is almost sure to be quickly appealed by the Trump administration. It comes after the Supreme Court reviewed the case earlier this year, and ruled 6-3 in late June that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file their cases as a class action lawsuit — narrowing the instances in which lower district courts can issue so-called universal injunctions.
