Judge who blocked Trump's birthright citizenship order wants to do so again

Source: CNN Politics

Published 1:30 PM EDT, Fri July 18, 2025


Boston CNN — A federal judge who previously blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship spent more than an hour Friday grappling with whether his nationwide injunction could stand after the Supreme Court curbed the ability of judges to issue such broad rulings.

US District Judge Leo Sorokin of the federal court in Boston made clear during a hearing that he intended to keep intact some of his earlier ruling against the birthright citizenship executive order issued by Trump on his first day back in office.

He grilled Trump administration lawyers and a group of Democratic attorneys general from more than a dozen states, the District of Columbia and several cities, on major questions about whether his nationwide injunction would still hold after the conservative Supreme Court instructed lower courts to take a second look at such rulings to ensure they weren’t overbroad.

Signed by Trump on January 20, the executive order, titled “PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP,” said that the federal government will not “issue documents recognizing United States citizenship” to any children born on American soil to parents who were in the country unlawfully or who were there lawfully but temporarily. The Supreme Court said in its June 27 ruling that the administration cannot begin enforcing the order for 30 days, though the government is allowed to begin developing guidance on how the policy will be implemented.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/politics/birthright-citizenship-lawsuit-boston