President Donald Trump celebrated a Supreme Court ruling Friday that he said “hit hard” at birthright citizenship. But his executive order to prohibit the children of unauthorized immigrants and foreign visitors from obtaining automatic U.S. citizenship still faces a steep challenge in court.
Though the justices limited the ability of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, including those that halted his ban on birthright citizenship, they left open the possibility of granting universal relief through class-action lawsuits. Within hours of the ruling, several civil rights groups filed new class-action lawsuits to block Trump’s birthright ban from taking effect.
District court judges could also continue to issue temporary injunctions that apply to newborns in the jurisdiction that has sued. And the Supreme Court could be asked again to weigh in on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, which the justices did not address in their ruling on injunctions.
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“There’s going to be a flood of lawsuits in district courts all over the country – both individual cases and class actions, trying to fill every gap that could possibly be exposed through this executive order to make sure people are protected,” said Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Nonetheless, the uncertainty of what might transpire in the weeks ahead has put immigrant communities on edge. Though several legal experts told The Washington Post they expect a federal judge to grant class action relief, if that does not happen, Trump’s executive order could take effect in 30 days anywhere that an injunction has not been issued. Currently 22 states and the District of Columbia are protected from existing orders temporarily halting the ban.
“Somebody who is giving birth today, tomorrow, on Monday … their child is a U.S. citizen, they should request the hospital records and then request the birth certificate,” said Efrén C. Olivares, vice president for litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center. “Practically though in the time that we’re living … I am concerned that some parents may be scared, may be afraid to request those documents for fear of being reported to immigration authorities.”
Trump’s order denies automatic citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants and foreigners on temporary work, student and tourist visas. Some studies estimate that population could include more than 150,000 newborns a year. It is based on a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and grants citizenship to those born on U.S. soil who are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the federal government. Proponents argue undocumented immigrants and foreigners on temporary visas are not fully under U.S. jurisdiction.
Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, predicted two potential scenarios: a class-action lawsuit that could have the same effect as a nationwide injunction or individual lawsuits filed in multiple federal district courts.
“If a district court issues a class-wide injunction, then the Trump administration may appeal that the arguments against class-action lawsuits are the same as against nationwide injunctions,” Chishti said. But he predicted that would be a harder argument for the Trump administration to win because the Supreme Court did not weigh in on restrictions to class-action suits.
Jonathan Miller, chief program officer for the Public Rights Project, a California-based nonprofit that has represented local jurisdictions in broad challenges to several Trump administration policies, said he thinks more governments will be looking to sign on to existing lawsuits to ensure that their residents are protected.
“That’s the type of thing that could continue to grow as more jurisdictions realize they need to get involved to be protected,” he said.
Some Democrats warned of “chaos” if Trump succeeds in ending birthright citizenship. Lawyers have warned there will be significant logistical hurdles in determining which babies born in the United States qualify for citizenship. They say even children who qualify could face delays and errors in obtaining proof of U.S. citizenship.
The American Civil Liberties Union was one of several groups to file a class-action lawsuit hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling. The organization said that a federal judge should grant relief to “all current and future persons” affected by the ban and born on or after Feb. 20 – the date Trump’s executive order would have taken effect if not for the injunctions.
“Every court to have looked at this cruel order agrees that it is unconstitutional,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney in their case. “The Supreme Court’s 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.”
Trump called the court’s ruling a “GIANT WIN” on social media and said the “Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard.” He went on to state that it has been used for the “SCAMMING of our Immigration process.” The president and his supporters allege the clause has been a magnet for unauthorized immigrants coming to the United States for the express purpose of having a baby who gains citizenship and can sponsor them for legal status.
But U.S. law requires those children to wait until they’re 21 to petition for their parents to become citizens, with very few exceptions.
Several immigrant mothers said Friday they were bolstered by the efforts of immigrant advocacy groups to try to seek other legal resolutions to block Trump’s birthright citizenship order from affecting families such as theirs. Nonetheless, for many undocumented immigrants, the decision has added to their uncertainty and fear as Trump ramps up arrests and pushes forward his deportation operations.
Edna Yang, co-executive director of American Gateways, an Austin-based nonprofit group, said that immigrant parents should not panic or make any hasty decisions, but that communities do need to plan for any scenario.
“The hallmark of this administration is uncertainty,” Yang said, citing other immigration policies targeting student visa-holders and deporting people to third countries. “All these things have been done quickly to create confusion and uncertainty. It’s hard to reassure people everything is going to be fine.”
Reylimar, 28, left Venezuela in 2019 as part of a mass exodus of people fleeing the country’s political and economic crisis. She spoke on the condition that her last name be withheld because she fears being targeted by immigration enforcement. She lived for a few years in Colombia and then entered the country in 2024 after obtaining an appointment through the Biden administration’s CBP One app.
She recently learned she is pregnant and said she is in a constant state of stress. The government canceled the parole status she was given after entering the country and, she said, also revoked her work authorization. She has an ongoing asylum case but lacks basic necessities such as health insurance.
“We are living in suspense,” she said. “I don’t want to go back to my country. I also don’t want them to arrest me for just being an immigrant.”
Reylimar now also worries about the future for her baby.