New Hampshire judge to hear arguments on class action against Trump's birthright citizenship order
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a pregnant woman, two parents and their infants, is among numerous cases challenging Trump's January order denying citizenship to those born to parents living in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, the plaintiffs are seeking to have their case certified as a class action and to block implementation of the order while litigation continues.
'Tens of thousands of babies and their parents may be exposed to the order's myriad harms in just weeks and need an injunction now,' lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in court documents filed Tuesday.
At issue is the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which states: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.' The Trump administration says the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' means the U.S. can deny citizenship to babies born to women in the country illegally, ending what has been seen as an intrinsic part of U.S. law for more than a century.
'Prior misimpressions of the citizenship clause have created a perverse incentive for illegal immigration that has negatively impacted this country's sovereignty, national security, and economic stability,' government lawyers wrote in the New Hampshire case. 'The Constitution does not harbor a windfall clause granting American citizenship to … the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws.'
Legal battles continue in multiple states
Several federal judges have issued nationwide injunctions stopping Trump's order from taking effect, but the U.S. Supreme Court limited those injunctions in a June 27 ruling that gave lower courts 30 days to act. With that time frame in mind, opponents of the change quickly returned to court to try to block it.
New Jersey and the more than dozen states joining its case in Massachusetts federal court have asked the judge to determine if the nationwide injunction in their case could still apply under the high court's ruling. The judge has scheduled a hearing for July 18.
'Everybody knows there's a 30-day clock, so our hope is that we get an answer prior to the end of the 30-day clock,' New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
In a Washington state case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the judges have asked the parties to write briefs explaining the effect of the Supreme Court's ruling. Washington and the other states in that lawsuit have asked the appeals court to return the case to the lower court judge.
As in New Hampshire, the plaintiff in a Maryland seeks to organize a class-action lawsuit that includes every person who would be affected by the order. The judge set a Wednesday deadline for written legal arguments as she considers the request for another nationwide injunction from CASA, a nonprofit immigrant rights organization.
Ama Frimpong, legal director at CASA, said the group has been stressing to its members and clients that it is not time to panic.
'No one has to move states right this instant,' she said. 'There's different avenues through which we are all fighting, again, to make sure that this executive order never actually sees the light of day.'
New Hampshire plaintiffs include parents, babies
The New Hampshire plaintiffs, referred to only by pseudonyms, include a woman from Honduras who has a pending asylum application and is due to give birth to her fourth child in October. She told the court the family came to the U.S. after being targeted by gangs.
'I do not want my child to live in fear and hiding. I do not want my child to be a target for immigration enforcement,' she wrote. 'I fear our family could be at risk of separation.'
Another plaintiff, a man from Brazil, has lived with his wife in Florida for five years. Their first child was born in March, and they are in the process of applying for lawful permanent status based on family ties — his wife's father is a U.S. citizen.
'My baby has the right to citizenship and a future in the United States,' he wrote.
___ Catalini reported from Trenton, New Jersey.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada Standard
22 minutes ago
- Canada Standard
Daily World Briefing, July 12
Chinese FM calls for joint efforts in finding right way for China, U.S. to get along China and the United States should work together to find the right way to get along with each other in the new era, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Friday. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, expressed his hope that the U.S. side would view China with an objective, rational and pragmatic attitude. Wang made the remarks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Malaysian capital on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting and related meetings. China's Xixia Imperial Tombs inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site China's Xixia Imperial Tombs were inscribed on the World Heritage List on Friday during UNESCO's 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Paris, France. With this addition, the total number of World Heritage sites in China has reached 60. Xixia Imperial Tombs is a group of imperial burial sites from the Xixia Dynasty (Western Xia, 1038-1227), founded by the Tangut people in northwestern China during the 11th to 13th centuries. Covering an area of nearly 40 square km, the site comprises four types of architectural remains: 9 imperial mausoleums, 271 subordinate tombs, a northern architectural complex covering 0.05 square km, and 32 flood control works. Trump says U.S. to impose 35 pct tariffs on Canada starting Aug. 1 U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a 35 percent tariff on imports from Canada starting Aug. 1. Trump posted a letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on his social media platform Truth Social, criticizing Canada for retaliating against previous U.S. tariffs. He pointed out that the new tariff is in part caused by the flow of fentanyl from Canada, as well as allegedly unfair trade practices, and that he would "consider an adjustment" to the tariffs if Canada cooperated with the United States to stop the flow of fentanyl. Canada continues trade talks with U.S. towards revised deadline of Aug. 1 Canada will continue the trade talks with the United States towards the revised deadline of Aug. 1, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday. Carney said on his social media that throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended the workers and businesses. "We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1," he said. Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America, he said, affirming Canada's commitment to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both countries. Lebanese president says normalization with Israel not on agenda Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirmed on Friday that normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel is currently not under consideration, emphasizing that Lebanon's current focus is on maintaining peace, not entering formal ties. "Peace means a state of non-war, and that is what matters to Lebanon right now," he said, according to a statement released by Lebanon's presidency. Aoun's remarks came during a meeting with a delegation from the Arab and International Relations Council. During the meeting, Aoun stressed that the unity of the Lebanese people is crucial to overcoming the country's ongoing challenges. U.S. State Department starts laying off at least 1,300 staffers The U.S. Department of State has begun firing more than 1,300 people as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency, U.S. media reported on Friday. "The firings will affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers," reported CNN after reviewing an internal notice. "It comes as the State Department implements a drastic reorganization as part of the Trump administration's broader efforts to shrink the federal government." Hundreds of offices and bureaus are being eliminated or altered as a result of the changes being implemented on Friday, it added. Nearly 800 killed while trying to access aid in Gaza Nearly 800 people have been killed while trying to access humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Friday. Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that as of July 7, the OHCHR had documented 798 killings in aid distribution areas in Gaza. "Including 615 in the vicinity of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites and 183, presumably on the routes of aid convoys," she said. She also noted that most of the casualties resulted from gunshot injuries. Shamdasani said that such a situation is unacceptable, yet it continues.
Winnipeg Free Press
32 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cambodian sites of Khmer Rouge brutality added to UNESCO heritage list
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Three locations used by Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago have been added by UNESCO to its World Heritage List. The three locations were inscribed to the list by the United Nations cultural agency Friday during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris. The inscription coincided with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power by the communist Khmer Rouge government, which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, torture and mass executions during a four-year reign from 1975 to 1979. UNESCO's World Heritage List lists sites considered important to humanity and includes the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India and Cambodia's Angkor archaeological complex. The three sites listed Friday include two notorious prisons and an execution site immortalized in a Hollywood film. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, located in the capital Phnom Penh, is the site of a former high school used by the Khmer Rouge as a notorious prison. Better known as S-21, about 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured there. The M-13 prison, located in rural Kampong Chhnang province in central Cambodia, also was regarded as one of the main prisons of the early Khmer Rouge. Choeung Ek, located about 15 kilometers (10 miles) south of the capital, was used as an execution site and mass grave. The story of the atrocities committed there are the focus of the 1984 film 'The Killing Fields,' based on the experiences of New York Times photojournalist Dith Pran and correspondent Sydney Schanberg. The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, and immediately herded almost all the city's residents into the countryside, where they were forced to toil in harsh conditions until 1979, when the regime was driven from power by an invasion from neighboring Vietnam. In September 2022, the U.N.-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, better known as the Khmer Rouge tribunal, concluded its work compiling cases against Khmer Rouge leaders. The tribunal cost $337 million over 16 years but convicted just three men. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet issued a message Friday directing people to beat drums simultaneously across the country Sunday morning to mark the UNESCO listing. 'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Hun Manet said in a video message posted online. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.' Youk Chhang, executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, said the country is 'still grappling with the painful legacies of genocide, torture, and mass atrocity.' But naming the three sites to the UNESCO list will play a role in educating younger generations of Cambodians and others worldwide. 'Though they were the landscape of violence, they too will and can contribute to heal the wounds inflicted during that era that have yet to heal,' he said. The UNESCO inscription was Cambodia's first nomination for a modern and non-classical archaeological site and is among the first in the world to be submitted as a site associated with recent conflict, Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement Friday. Four Cambodian archaeological sites were previously inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites including Angkor, Preah Vihear, Sambo Prei Kuk and Koh Ker, the ministry said.
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
DOGE sprouts in red states, as governors embrace the cost-cutter brand and make it their own
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The brash and chaotic first days of President Donald Trump 's Department of Government Efficiency, once led by the world's richest man Elon Musk, spawned state-level DOGE mimicry as Republican governors and lawmakers aim to show they are in step with their party's leader. Governors have always made political hay out of slashing waste or taming bureaucracy, but DOGE has, in some ways, raised the stakes for them to show that they are zealously committed to cutting costs. Many drive home the point that they have always been focused on cutting government, even if they're not conducting mass layoffs. 'I like to say we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,' Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in announcing her own task force in January. Critics agree that some of these initiatives are nothing new and suggest they are wasteful, essentially duplicating built-in processes that are normally the domain of legislative committees or independent state auditors. At the same time, some governors are using their DOGE vehicles to take aim at GOP targets of the moment, such as welfare programs or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And some governors who might be eyeing a White House run in 2028 are rebranding their cost-cutting initiatives as DOGE, perhaps eager to claim the mantle of the most DOGE of them all. No chainsaws in the states At least 26 states have initiated DOGE-style efforts of varying kinds, according to the Economic Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C. Most DOGE efforts were carried out through a governor's order — including by governors in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma — or by lawmakers introducing legislation or creating a legislative committee. The state initiatives have a markedly different character than Trump's slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk's chainsaw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February. Governors are tending to entrust their DOGE bureaus to loyalists, rather than independent auditors, and are often employing what could be yearslong processes to consolidate procurement, modernize information technology systems, introduce AI tools, repeal regulations or reduce car fleets, office leases or worker headcounts through attrition. Steve Slivinski, a senior fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute who researches state government regulatory structures, said that a lot of what he has seen from state-level DOGE initiatives are the 'same stuff you do on a pretty regular basis anyway' in state governments. States typically have routine auditing procedures and the ways states have of saving money are 'relatively unsexy,' Slivinski said. And while the state-level DOGE vehicles might be useful over time in finding marginal improvements, 'branding it DOGE is more of a press op rather than anything new or substantially different than what they usually do,' Slivinski said. Analysts at the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute say that governors and lawmakers, primarily in the South and Midwest, are using DOGE to breathe new life into long-term agendas to consolidate power away from state agencies and civil servants, dismantle public services and benefit insiders and privatization advocates. 'It's not actually about cutting costs because of some fiscal responsibility,' EPI analyst Nina Mast said. Governors promoting spending cuts Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry rebranded his 'Fiscal Responsibility Program' as Louisiana DOGE, and promoted it as the first to team up with the federal government to scrub illegitimate enrollees from welfare programs. It has already netted $70 million in savings in the Medicaid program in an 'unprecedented' coordination, Landry said in June. In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt — who says in a blurb on the Oklahoma DOGE website that 'I've been DOGE-ing in Oklahoma since before it was cool' — made a DOGE splash with the first report by his Division of Government Efficiency by declaring that the state would refuse some $157 million in federal public health grants. The biggest chunk of that was $132 million intended to support epidemiology and laboratory capacity to control infectious disease outbreaks. The Stitt administration said that funding — about one-third of the total over an eight-year period — exceeded the amount needed. The left-leaning Oklahoma Policy Institute questioned the wisdom of that, pointing to rising numbers of measles and whooping cough cases and the rocky transition under Stitt of the state's public health lab from Oklahoma City to Stillwater. Oklahoma Democrats issued rebukes, citing Oklahoma's lousy public health rankings. 'This isn't leadership,' state Sen. Carri Hicks said. 'It's negligence.' Stitt's Oklahoma DOGE has otherwise recommended changes in federal law to save money, opened up the suggestion box to state employees and members of the general public and posted a spreadsheet online with cost savings initiatives in his administration. Those include things as mundane as agencies going paperless, refinancing bonds, buying automated lawn mowers for the Capitol grounds or eliminating a fax machine line in the State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order in February creating a task force of DOGE teams in each state agency. In the order, DeSantis recited 10 points on what he described as his and Florida's 'history of prudent fiscal management' even before DOGE. Among other things, DeSantis vowed to scrutinize spending by state universities and municipal and county governments — including on DEI initiatives — at a time when DeSantis is pushing to abolish the property taxes that predominantly fund local governments. His administration has since issued letters to universities and governments requesting reams of information and received a blessing from lawmakers, who passed legislation authorizing the inquiry and imposing fines for entities that don't respond. After the June 30 signing ceremony, DeSantis declared on social media: 'We now have full authority to DOGE local governments.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. In Arkansas, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders launched her cost-cutting Arkansas Forward last year, before DOGE, and later said the state had done the 'same thing' as DOGE. Her administration spent much of 2024 compiling a 97-page report that listed hundreds of ways to possibly save $300 million inside a $6.5 billion budget. Achieving that savings — largely by standardizing information technology and purchasing — would sometimes require up-front spending and take years to realize savings. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at:
