In response to Trump’s Executive Order 14160, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” Trump’s view that the Fourteenth Amendment does not guarantee birthright citizenship, has been challenged by lawsuits, filed by people who are at risk of losing their citizenship and also by nearly two dozen states.
To prevent harm to those who might be affected while the case makes its way through the court system, a district court judge issued a universal injunction, preventing the administration from applying the Executive Order to anyone, anywhere, even in states that were not party to the suit. The administration asked the appeals court to stay this injunction, but the circuit court left it in place. The issue then came before the Supreme Court, which issued its opinion on June 27.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal courts may not issue universal injunctions that extend beyond the plaintiffs in the request for the injunction.
“The applications do not raise—and thus we do not address—the question whether the Executive Order violates the Citizenship Clause or Nationality Act,” reads the opinion, situating the actual legal matter before the court. “The issue before us is one of remedy: whether, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, federal courts have equitable authority to issue universal injunctions.”
