Trump hails Supreme Court's "monumental" order on birthright citizenship limiting nationwide injunctions
Washington: US President Donald Trump hailed Supreme Court's ruling to limit the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide orders that temporarily stop the government from enforcing a policy, allowing his executive order restricting birthright citizenship to go into effect in some areas of the country, for now, by curtailing judges' ability to block the president's policies nationwide, reported New York Times.
The Supreme Court on Friday limited the ability of lower-court judges to block executive branch policies nationwide, opening the door for a majority of states to at least temporarily enforce President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship.
President Donald Trump called the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. CASA "monumental" and thanked the court for curbing injunctions from the briefing room podium, flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
"This morning, the Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law in striking down the excessive use of nationwide injunctions to interfere with the normal functioning of the executive branch," said Trump.
Nationwide injunctions have frequently been used by lower courts to stop executive actions from applying across the board rather than just granting relief to plaintiffs who sued. Trump's actions had been the subject of 25 injunctions between the start of his term in January and the end of April, more than any other president over the same time period, according to data from the Congressional Research Service and a Harvard Law Review tally, reported New York Post.
Trump went on to thank the conservative justices on the court -- including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who authored the majority opinion -- and said this allows his administration to move ahead with "numerous polices" now that lower court judges have been limited in their ability to issue nationwide injunctions.
"Radical-left judges effectively tried to overrule the rightful powers of the president, to stop the Americans people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers. So, thanks to this decision, we can now promptly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis, including birthright citizenship; ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding, stopping federal taxpayers from paying for transgender surgeries and numerous other priorities of the American people. Our country should be very of the Supreme Court today," added Trump.
Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution's 14th Amendment.
For now, the justices narrowed the lower court rulings to only block Trump's order as applied to the 22 Democratic-led states, expectant mothers and immigration organizations that are suing, "but only to the extent that the injunctions are broader than necessary to provide complete relief to each plaintiff with standing to sue."
The justices ordered the lower courts to move "expeditiously" to refashion their injunctions to comply with the new ruling, reported The Hill.
Though the court curtailed nationwide injunctions, the decision leaves the door open for plaintiffs to try to seek broad relief by pursuing class action lawsuits. Within hours, one group of plaintiffs quickly took the hint. Three federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state imposed sweeping injunctions halting the order from taking effect in response to lawsuits from plaintiffs including immigration groups and nearly two dozen states.
A coalition of expectant mothers and immigration organizations suing asked a district judge in Maryland to issue a new ruling that applies to anyone designated as ineligible for birthright citizenship under Trump's order -- the same practical effect as a nationwide injunction, reported The Hill.
The American Civil Liberties Union brought an entirely new lawsuit Friday seeking to do the same. The efforts could quickly bring the birthright citizenship battle back to the Supreme Court.
The states have vowed to press ahead, believing that nationwide relief is still necessary. The majority also left the door open for plaintiffs to still try to seek broad relief by filing class action lawsuits, which quickly commenced in two separate cases.
The Trump administration can now resume developing guidance to implement the order, though it must wait 30 days before attempting to deny citizenship to anyone, reported The Hill.
Trump v CASA was the most high-profile proceeding before the Supreme Court this term, which has now wrapped up. The Supreme Court will convene for its next term on October 6.
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