{"id":211528,"date":"2025-06-27T14:00:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T18:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=press_release&p=211528"},"modified":"2025-07-03T12:01:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T16:01:58","slug":"groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order","title":{"rendered":"Groups File Nationwide Class-Action Lawsuit Over Trump Birthright Citizenship Order"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-211528","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"New lawsuit comes in response to today\u2019s Supreme Court ruling","date_and_time":"2025-06-27 14:00:36","featured_image":"","show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"CONCORD, N.H. \u2014 Immigrants rights\u2019 advocates today filed<\/a> a new nationwide class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration\u2019s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The lawsuit is in response to today\u2019s Supreme Court ruling that potentially opens the door for partial enforcement of the executive order.\r\n\r\nThis new case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of a proposed class of babies subject to the executive order, and their parents.\r\n\r\nThe same group of organizations filed a similar suit in January 2025 in the same court, on behalf of groups with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order, including New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York. The court issued a ruling protecting members of those organizations, and that case is pending at the First Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral argument set for August 1.\r\n\r\nThree other lawsuits originally obtained nationwide injunctions protecting everyone subject to the order, but the Supreme Court\u2019s decision narrowed those injunctions, potentially leaving some children without protection.\r\n\r\nThis new case seeks protection for all families in the country, filling the gaps that may be left by the existing litigation.\r\n\r\nBirthright citizenship is the principle that every baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. The Constitution\u2019s 14th Amendment guarantees the citizenship of all children born in the United States (with the extremely narrow exception of children of foreign diplomats) regardless of race, color, or ancestry. Specifically, it states that \u201call 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.\u201d\r\n\r\nToday\u2019s lawsuit charges the Trump administration with flouting the Constitution, congressional intent, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, and it is national in scope.\r\n\r\n\u201cEvery court to have looked at this cruel order agrees that it is unconstitutional,\u201d said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU\u2019s Immigrants\u2019 Rights Project and lead attorney in this case. <\/strong>\u201cThe Supreme Court\u2019s decision did not remotely suggest otherwise, and we are fighting to make sure President Trump cannot trample on the citizenship rights of a single child.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThis executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the U.S. but who are denied full rights. No politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship \u2014 and we will keep fighting to ensure that every child born in the United States has their right to citizenship protected,\u201d said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u201cCitizenship is a right afforded to us by birth, not by privilege,\u201d said Karla McKanders, director of the Legal Defense Fund\u2019s Thurgood Marshall Institute<\/strong>. \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s executive order is an unlawful attempt to entrench racial hierarchies and establish a second class of citizens in the United States. We will continue working to ensure that birthright citizenship \u2014 a right granted by the U.S. Constitution \u2014 is protected, and that families are not torn apart because of this executive order.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cIn the face of authoritarian attacks, we\u2019re filing a class-action lawsuit to defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families across the country,\" said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Law Caucus. <\/strong>\u201cAsian American communities know firsthand the dangers when citizenship becomes a weapon of exclusion \u2014 from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Wong Kim Ark to Japanese American incarceration. It is this legacy that drives us to preserve a constitutional promise that has defined American citizenship for over a century.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cThe Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship, and no procedural ruling will stop us from fighting to uphold that promise,\u201d said Tianna Mays, legal director for Democracy Defenders Fund.<\/strong> \u201cOur plaintiffs, and millions of families across this country, deserve clarity, stability, and justice. We look forward to making our case in court again.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cWhile some of this week's decisions have the potential to shift our legal strategies, they will not change the commitments the ACLU has held for over 100 years,\u201d said Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of the ACLU of Maine<\/strong>. \u201cThe constitutional principles that form the foundation of freedom in this country have always been challenging, complex, and multifaceted. The president\u2019s executive order violates the plain language of the 14th Amendment and flouts fundamental American values.\u201d\r\n\r\n\u201cFor more than 125 years, birthright citizenship has made the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. The Trump administration wants to end that right and create a permanent subclass with no vote, no voice, and no due process protection,\u201d said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. <\/strong>\u201cWe simply won\u2019t let that happen, and are using every tool in our toolkit to defend birthright citizenship.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe complaint is here<\/a>."}}],"drupal_node_id":"","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":[46529],"press_releases_related_to_cases":[211524],"spokesperson":[1767],"related_affiliates":[366,338,378],"related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Groups File Nationwide Class-Action Lawsuit Over Trump Birthright Citizenship Order | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T16:01:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order\",\"name\":\"Groups File Nationwide Class-Action Lawsuit Over Trump Birthright Citizenship Order | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-27T18:00:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-03T16:01:58+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/groups-file-nationwide-class-action-lawsuit-over-trump-birthright-citizenship-order\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. 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