BREAKING: Leo Sorokin, an Obama-appointed US District Judge, issued an order BLOCKING Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions in third ruling since the Supreme Court decision.
A third court ruled Friday that President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order cannot go into effect across the country, following the Supreme Court’s decision last month clawing back nationwide injunctions.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, an appointee of former President Obama, found that the nationwide injunction he granted to more than a dozen states remains in effect because “no workable, narrower alternative” would provide the plaintiffs full relief — an exception laid out in the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Despite the defendants’ chosen path, the Court — aided substantially by the plaintiffs’ meticulous factual and legal submissions — undertook the review required of it by CASA and considered anew whether its original order swept too broadly,” Sorokin wrote in a 23-page opinion, referencing the high court decision.
“After careful consideration of the law and the facts, the Court answers that question in the negative,” he said.
Sorokin’s decision follows rulings by another district court and an appellate panel of judgesthat also allowed blocks on Trump’s order to remain in place for states.
The president’s directive would deny citizenship to children born in the country who don’t have at least one parent with permanent legal status. Each court to weigh in on the legality of the order has so far deemed it unconstitutional.
But in June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to curtail the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, which allow relief for anyone in the country as opposed to only the parties suing.
Still, in that decision, the justices preserved some pathways for nationwide relief. They said individuals can file class action lawsuits, and states may receive nationwide injunctions if necessary for complete relief.
“The record does not support a finding that any narrower option would feasibly and adequately protect the plaintiffs from the injuries they have shown they are likely to suffer if the unlawful policy announced in the Executive Order takes effect during the pendency of this lawsuit,” Sorokin wrote.
