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make the road new york
Third Judge Blocks Trump's 'Wildly Unconstitutional' Attack on Birthright Citizenship
"While this is just the first of many similar challenges we will face over the coming years, it is an important one because it again reaffirms the fundamental civil rights of American citizens," said one advocate.
Feb 10, 2025
Democracy defenders and migrant rights groups celebrated on Monday after a New Hampshire-based federal judge temporarily blocked Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship for children of people who are not in the country legally, the third to do so in under three weeks.
"Today's ruling is the latest rebuke of President Trump's wildly unconstitutional bid to end birthright citizenship," said Cody Wofsy, who is deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project and argued the case. "This attempt to deny babies their citizenship is as illegal as it is inhumane, and we will keep fighting until we stop this order for good."
Opponents of Trump's executive order argue that it clearly conflicts with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and over a century of legal precedent. The new preliminary injunction from District Judge Joseph Laplante followed similar decisions by Judge John Coughenour in Washington state and Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland.
"Birthright citizenship is a pillar of our democracy, and no president can simply erase it from our Constitution."
According to The Associated Press, "At least nine lawsuits have been filed to challenge the birthright citizenship order."
Laplante, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims and to suffer irreparable harm if he didn't block Trump's order. The judge also concluded that potential harm to plaintiffs absent any action outweighed possible damage to defendants, and that issuing the injunction was in the public interest.
This challenge against Trump's order was launched by the ACLU and the group's Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire arms as well as the Asian Law Caucus (ALC), State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund on behalf of New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York.
"Today's injunction reaffirms what we already know: that birthright citizenship is a pillar of our democracy, and no president can simply erase it from our Constitution," said Jose Lopez, co-executive director of the grassroots group Make the Road New York.
"Our members come from all over the world with courage and resilience to make better lives for their families," Lopez continued. "We are grateful that this injunction means that their children will be treated equally to anyone else born in this country. It is what we all deserve, and we will keep fighting to make sure it is a reality."
ALC executive director Aarti Kohli similarly welcomed that "Trump's unconstitutional executive order is blocked for now, affirming the rights of thousands of Asian immigrants—working parents, asylum-seekers, students—who came here to find opportunity and safety."
Kohli also pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, in which the majority ruled that under the 14th Amendment, a young man born in California to Chinese citizen parents was an American.
"Instead of improving living conditions for all, this administration is creating chaos and fear to further a divisive agenda," she said. "Just as Wong Kim Ark and his community came together over a century ago, we will continue to fight for the freedom to create a better life for our loved ones."
Trump's order to end birthright citizenship is just part of his sweeping assault on migrants. Since returning to office last month, he's also effectively shut down the asylum process at the southern border, reinstated the "Remain in Mexico" policy, and pursued a mass deportation plan that involves locking up migrants in federal prisons and at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of LULAC, tied the injunction out of New Hampshire to the broader fight against Trump.
"Today's ruling further confirms that American citizens are indeed American citizens and that no one, not even a president, can take that away," said Proaño. "While this is just the first of many similar challenges we will face over the coming years, it is an important one because it again reaffirms the fundamental civil rights of American citizens and their immigrant family members."
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Actions Across US Urge Biden to End 'Cruel' Immigration Detention and Deportations
"Our tax dollars need to be used to strengthen our families and communities and uphold our human rights, not for the militarization of our beloved borderlands," said one activist.
Sep 15, 2023
A coalition of over 80 advocacy groups on Friday co-sponsored demonstrations in eight U.S. states and Washington, D.C. as part of a national day of action demanding the Biden administration close all federal immigration detention centers, release all migrants in custody, and end deportations.
Throughout his campaign, President Joe Biden "pledged to create an immigration system that is just and humane, including ending for-profit immigration detention," the coalition—which is organizing under the Defund Hate and Communities Not Cages banners—said in a statement.
"Our community is enraged and ready to push the Biden administration to fulfill his broken promises."
"However, after taking office, enforcement, detention, and surveillance have only increased and in July 2023, over 90% of detained immigrants are incarcerated in facilities owned and operated by private prison corporations that rake in billions of dollars in revenue," the groups continued.
Noting that at least 11 people have died during U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention during Biden's tenure, the coalition said that "the negligent death of 8-year-old Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez in CBP custody further highlights an immigration enforcement system beyond compassion and beyond repair."
"Our community is enraged and ready to push the Biden administration to fulfill his broken promises," the campaign added.
The activists are urging the Biden administration to:
- Shut down federal immigration detention centers;
- Defund ICE and CBP by cutting their funding in Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget request; and
- Freeing everyone detained in federal immigration custody.
"We join our colleagues here in D.C. and around the country to demand the Biden administration to move away from the cruel imprisonment of immigrants, release those in ICE custody, end immigration detention, and halt all deportations immediately," Guerline Jozef, co-founder and executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, said in a statement.
Protecting the civil liberties of those seeking a better life in the United States is a core tenant of our nation's democracy," Jozef added. "Throwing vulnerable people into prisons is deplorable—and often deadly."
Jovanny Hernandez, co-chair of the Southern Border Communities Coalition and an organizer for the New Mexico Dream Team, asserted that "it is our constitutional and human right for everyone to live free of inhumane treatment. Yet while the United States presents itself as a beacon of these human rights on the global stage, we continue to witness the violation of our rights at the southern border."
"Our tax dollars need to be used to strengthen our families and communities and uphold our human rights, not for the militarization of our beloved borderlands and the targeting, detention, and deportation of our families, neighbors, and newcomers seeking protection," Hernandez added.
Luba Cortes, immigrant defense coordinator at Make the Road New York, said: "ICE has a horrifying track record of mistreating immigrants—denying them access to legal counsel, denying them freedom, and severing them from their families. Despite this, our government continues to funnel billions of dollars into these detention centers."
"People should be able to navigate their immigration cases with dignity and respect and in the comfort of their homes, not from behind bars in a jail cell," Cortes argued. "It is time to hold this administration accountable. President Biden and Congress must stop wasting public money by unnecessarily punishing immigrants in these horrid facilities and instead focus on reinvesting resources into our communities."
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