Federal judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship ban for all infants, testing lower court powers

A federal judge in New Hampshire on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's executive order banning birthright citizenship and granting a nationwide class certification status to all infants impacted by the order U S District Judge Joseph LaPlante reported Thursday 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 scenario In his order LaPlante ruled that deprivation of citizenship as held by the th Amendment and changes in longstanding program would create irreparable harm Still the injunction is almost sure to be hurriedly appealed by the Trump administration The Supreme Court heard the development earlier this year and ruled - last month that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file their cases as a class action lawsuit They did not however weigh in on the birthright citizenship issue itself Trump's order signed on the first day of his second White House term directs all U S executive agencies to refuse to issue citizenship documents to children born to illegal immigrants or who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen of lawful permanent resident This is a latest news story Check back for updates