A federal judge in New Hampshire once again blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order regarding birthright citizenship, making this the third time a judge has done so since Trump signed the order on his first day in office.
In his preliminary junction, U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante said he would grant the plaintiff’s motion for a pause on the executive order, finding significance to their claims that they “are likely to suffer irreparable harm if the order is not granted” and “that the potential harm to the Plaintiffs, if the order is not granted, outweighs the potential harm to Defendants if the order is granted.”
The plaintiffs in the New Hampshire lawsuit include the American Civil Liberties Union chapters from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, as well as the Asian Law Caucus and the State Democracy Defenders Fund, which represent several organizations, including the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support.
The order, which would take effect on Feb. 19, would ultimately remove immediate U.S. citizenship from children born to parents who are not documented American citizens.
The New Hampshire case is one of nearly a dozen nationwide that argue that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional. Last week, a judge in Maryland issued an indefinite block on ending birthright citizenship to children born to immigrants in the country illegally or temporary immigrants.
Cody Wofsy, who is deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and the plaintiff’s attorney, said Trump’s order goes against the wording of the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The United States is among nearly 30 countries that grant birthright citizenship to children born in their country regardless of their parent’s citizenship status.
“For people out there feeling scared or confused right now, I would just say that this is a right that’s enshrined in the Constitution itself as well as in federal statute,” Wofsy said outside the courtroom on Monday. “And we and our partners, we’ll keep fighting until this executive order is ended once and for all,” according to The Associated Press
Trump’s legal representative, Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign, argued that, as president, Trump has the authority to end birthright citizenship, per CBS News.
Following arguments on Monday, Laplante, who President George W. Bush appointed, said, “I’m not persuaded by the defendants’ arguments on this motion. I have to say: I’m not offended by them, either, as a lawyer or a jurist. I think the rule of law is best served, best maintained and preserved when excellent practitioners present their arguments to the court with all the experience, expertise and knowledge they can muster,” per the AP.
He added that following his immediate injunction, Laplante would file an explanatory order on Tuesday explaining his reasoning.