Barbara v. Trump – Class Action to Protect Birthright Citizenship

We sued the Trump administration for trying to end birthright citizenship, a core American principle that is outlined in the plain language of the 14th Amendment. The case was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1, 2026. On June 30, 2026, we won.

On June 27, 2025, immigrants' rights advocates filed a new nationwide class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The lawsuit was in response to the June 27, 2025, Supreme Court ruling that potentially opened the door for partial enforcement of the executive order. Learn more about a nationwide class that protects the citizenship rights of all children born on U.S. soil.

Following a Supreme Court ruling limiting nationwide injunctions, this new class action case seeks protection for all families in the country, filling the gaps that may be left by the existing litigation.

The case was filed by the ACLU of Maine, ACLU, ACLU of New Hampshire, 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.

The 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 would 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.

Three other lawsuits originally obtained nationwide injunctions protecting everyone subject to the executive order, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27 decision narrowed those injunctions, potentially leaving some children without protection.

Birthright citizenship is the principle that every baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 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 “all 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.”

This lawsuit charges the Trump administration with flouting the Constitution, congressional intent, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent – and it is national in scope.

On July 10, 2025, the court preliminarily blocked President Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship and provisionally certified a nationwide class that protects the citizenship rights of all children born on U.S. soil.

On Sept. 26, 2025, the government asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case and bypass an appeal to the First Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals. The ACLU filed its response on Oct. 29, 2025. On Dec. 5, 2025, the Supreme Court issued an order accepting the case. The court heard oral arguments on April 1, 2026.

On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld our victory defending birthright citizenship. In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that President Trump's executive order violated both the 14th Amendment and federal law. This decision reaffirms a principle that has been settled for more than 150 years: if you are born in the United States, you are a citizen of the United States. This is a major victory for all Americans.