US Supreme Court limits nationwide injunctions in birthright citizenship case

The New York Times - The Supreme Court on Friday limited the ability of federal judges to temporarily pause President Trump’s executive orders, a major victory for the administration. But the justices made no ruling on the constitutionality of his move to end birthright citizenship, and they stopped his order from taking effect for 30 days.

The 6-to-3 decision, written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and split along ideological lines, may dramatically reshape how citizenship is granted in the United States, even temporarily. The ruling means that the practice of extending citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary residents and visitors would end in the 28 states that have not challenged the measure.

The court’s ruling appeared to upend the ability of single federal judges to freeze policies across the country, a powerful tool that has been used to block policies instituted by Democratic and Republican administrations. The majority offered a different path to challenging Mr. Trump’s orders on a nationwide basis: class action lawsuits.

In a blistering dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the majority’s decision “a travesty for the rule of law.”

The majority stressed that it was not addressing the merits of Trump’s attempt to end automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.