NHICS v. Trump – Birthright Citizenship

We sued the Trump administration for issuing an executive order that blatantly violated the plain language of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Trump's executive order violated the plain language of the 14th Amendment, put newborns in harm’s way, and flouted fundamental American values. On January 20th, 2025, immigrants' rights advocates sued the Trump administration just hours after he issued the order stripping certain babies born in the U.S. of their citizenship.

The case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil would have been 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 lawsuit charged the Trump administration with flouting the Constitution’s dictates, congressional intent, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent.

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

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied Black Americans the rights and protections of U.S. citizenship. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that children born in the United States to immigrant parents were entitled to U.S. citizenship, and the principle has remained an undisturbed constitutional bedrock for over a century.

On February 10th, 2025, the ACLU argued in front of U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante that the Trump administration was flouting the Constitution’s dictates, congressional intent, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent. The judge ruled in our favor, issuing a preliminary injunction order from the bench.

After the Supreme Court limited our victory in this case by restricting nationwide injunctions, we immediately filed a nationwide class action to protect all babies born in the United States.

That case, Barbara v. Trump, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. ACLU National Legal Director Cecilia Wang argued before the court. In a 6-3 opinion, the Court upheld birthright citizenship. However, only 5 justices ruled that the 14th Amendment protects birthright citizenship.

The Court never should have entertianed such a preposterous arguments from the Trump administration to begin with, but the ultimate outcome was a victory for immigrant families, all Americans, and the rule of law.

Read more about that case and see pictures from the arguments in Washington, D.C.