By The Washington Times (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-11 17:52:44 | Updated at 2026-08-11 18:19:00
1 hour ago
Immigrant rights advocates rushed to a federal court Tuesday to ask the judge to shut down President Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, saying the Supreme Court has already settled the issue and the White House lost.
Led by the American Civil Liberties Union, the advocates said Mr. Trump cannot create “new exceptions” to the general rule that babies born on U.S. soil are automatically citizens.
They said that applied to his broad attempt to block children born to illegal immigrants and temporary visitors — an order that was struck down by the Supreme Court in June — and to his new effort last week to try to block a narrower set of children born to foreign terrorists or to parents in the employ of a foreign government.
“President Trump may not like the fact that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, and he may not like that he lost in the Supreme Court, but that is really beside the point,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s immigration division. “It’s well past time for these illegal and cruel attacks on children’s citizenship to end.”
The groups asked U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante to step in and block the president’s latest order.
Judge Laplante, who sits in New Hampshire, oversaw one of the cases challenging Mr. Trump’s original birthright order and ruled against the president.
That ruling and similar decisions from other courts were upheld by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Trump, while criticizing the justices for that decision, said last week that it leaves him some wiggle room, and he plans to use it.
In the June ruling, the Supreme Court said that while most children are guaranteed citizenship, the 14th Amendment allows exceptions for those not subject to U.S. “jurisdiction.” That, the court said, includes children born to foreign diplomats and to occupying enemy armies.
Mr. Trump said children born to members of terrorist organizations are equivalent to the occupying armies exception. And his ban on citizenship for children born to parents who work for foreign governments falls under the diplomat exception.
He also tried to bar citizenship for children born to mothers who were part of a financial transaction to enter the U.S. for the purpose of delivering a child here, automatically earning the baby American citizenship.
The ACLU said Mr. Trump’s latest plans violate the injunction that Judge Laplante already issued because it would affect some of the children who were part of the class action.
The ACLU said the new order is so vague that it could capture a broad swath of illegal immigrant mothers who paid smugglers to reach the U.S., then gave birth.
That includes the lead plaintiff in the New Hampshire case.
