Judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship order in class-action challenge.

A Bush-appointed judge rules the executive order would leave U.S.-born children effectively stateless.

Photo by Bernardo Lorena Ponte on Unsplash

A federal judge has blocked President Trump’s controversial executive order ending birthright citizenship — at least for now. The ruling, issued Thursday by Judge Joseph Laplante in New Hampshire, comes just weeks after the Supreme Court limited nationwide injunctions by individual judges.

So how did Laplante apply the order nationwide anyway? By certifying the lawsuit — brought by the ACLU — as a class action. That legal move allowed him to halt the executive order for all babies born after February 20, regardless of their parents' immigration status.

The judge called the issue “not a close call,” siding with the ACLU’s argument that the order would render many children effectively stateless. He stayed the ruling for seven days to give the government time to appeal.

Can one judge really block a Trump executive order after the Supreme Court said no more nationwide injunctions? Turns out — yes, with a clever legal maneuver.

Tap below to unlock today’s full Pro Brief: how this class-action ruling could set the playbook for future challenges to Trump’s agenda, and what legal experts say comes next.