First Class Action Classwide Injunction after U.S. Supreme Court Forbid Nationwide Injunctions

On July 10, 2025 the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued what appears to be the first classwide injunction since the U.S. Supreme Court nullified Nationwide injunctions in its 06/27/25 ruling in the Birthright Citizenship Case, that did not decide the legality of President Trump's Executive Order. This appears to be the first class action certification granted for a group seeking protection of the Fourteenth Amendment Birthright Citizenship right for infants.

If you recall, as we discussed in Episodes 2, 10 and 38, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship, titled, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” that attempts to reinterpret the Birthright Citizenship clause of the U.S. Constitution, despite the Judicial Branch holding the power of Judicial Review under article III of the U.S. Constitution, not the President.

Additionally, President Trump’s EO also attempts to nullify Congressional statutes on this issue, despite the fact that Congress holds the power to Legislate under article I of the U.S. Constitution. Finally, Executive Orders do not have the authority to negate Congressionally enacted laws or Judicial rulings, such as interpretations of the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1898 in a case called United States v. Wong Kim Ark interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment Birthright Citizenship clause as providing for Birthright American citizenship to those born within the physical United States with the exception of children born to foreign diplomats who are in the U.S. at the time of birth in diplomatic service, or to children born to hostile foreign invaders occupying American territory, such as a foreign army.

An example in our history would have been if Japanese troops in World War II had children born in occupied parts of Alaska, those children would be excluded from birthright American citizenship.

Neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the U.S. Supreme Court have stated anything regarding the immigration status of parents of children born in the U.S. and whether they can be excluded from Birthright Citizenship.

What we do know however is that regardless of how you feel politically about the issue of Birthright Citizenship, we are a nation of laws not men. Article V of the U.S. Constitution requires 38 state legislatures or state constitutional convention votes along with the majority of Congress and the President to amend the U.S. Constitution.

While it is hard to imagine you could get close to that much consensus on any political issue today, this is what our Constitution requires for amendments. If we allow a workaround for one elected President, who is to say that a future elected President of a different political stripe will not also abuse the workaround. Legislation and especially amendments to the U.S. Constitution are designed to be a consensus process, not a process where one authoritarian can alter the U.S. Constitution by Executive fiat.

In what appears to be the first major District Court ruling since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Birthright Citizenship Case, covered in Episode 38, that largely shut down nationwide injunctions, but left a path for class actions, Judge Joseph Laplante of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire issued a ruling on July 10, 2025 ranting a provisional class certification pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23.

The class consists of quote: All current and future persons who are born on or after February 20, 2025, where (1) that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.

The language mirrors the people that are the target of President Trump’s Executive Order, in order to have them all be included within the class. Additionally, pursuant to Rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court entered a Classwide Preliminary Injunction, in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27, 2025 order on Nationwide injunctions, that again prevents the Trump administration from enforcing President Trump’s unconstitutional day one Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship.

Check out Episode 2 for a discussion of the substantive issues with the Birthright Citizenship Executive Order, which could make its way for final review by the U.S. Supreme Court later this year. Additionally, check out the Amicus Curiae brief that I submitted in this matter in the U.S. Supreme Court at www.biazzolaw.com and stay positive. The fight isn’t over yet, it’s just more challenging now, but not impossible.

Keep following Executive Coup for further updates on this matter and others related to the apparent Executive Coup attempt that is unfolding in the U.S. Federal Government at the direction of President Donald J. Trump. Thank you.