Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship blocked by another federal appeals judge in latest ruling

By Brie Stimson

Published July 25, 2025

SCOTUS limits nationwide injunctions with 'extremely significant' birthright decision

A federal appeals judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship for the children of people in the country illegally or temporarily.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin ruled that a nationwide injunction on the Trump administration’s effort to end birthright citizenship that he issued earlier this year and that was granted to more than a dozen states can stand.

Sorokin said the ruling was an exception to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited lower courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions. The issue is expected to return to the Supreme Court.

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Birthright citizenship supporters hold up banner

Demonstrators hold up a banner during a citizenship rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Trump and the administration "are entitled to pursue their interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, and no doubt the Supreme Court will ultimately settle the question," Sorokin wrote in his ruling. "But in the meantime, for purposes of this lawsuit at this juncture, the Executive Order is unconstitutional."

The Trump administration has argued that children born in the U.S. to parents in the country illegally and temporarily are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.

Trump signed the birthright citizenship executive order, along with a slew of other orders, on his first day in office in January.

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House, on June 27, 2025, in Washington D.C., following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits the application of birthright citizenship. (Mehmet Eser / Middle East Images via AFP / Getty)

The Trump administration has argued children born in the U.S. to parents in the country illegally and temporarily are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship. (Getty Images)

On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also affirmed the lower court’s nationwide injunction, and, earlier this month, a New Hampshire federal judge issued a ruling prohibiting Trump’s executive order from taking effect nationwide in a new class-action lawsuit.

Sorokin disagreed with the Trump administration’s argument that the Supreme Court’s ruling warranted a narrower ruling.

A woman is pictured protesting outside the U.S. Supreme Court building with her infant.

Olga Urbina and her 9-month-old son, Ares Webster, participate in a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court over President Donald Trump's move to end birthright citizenship as the court hears arguments over the order in Washington, D.C., May 15, 2025. (Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images)

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The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit argued that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional because the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, and it also threatens millions of dollars in state funding for "essential" health insurance services contingent on citizenship status.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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