Overview
- U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday that bars federal agencies from applying Executive Order 14418 to a certified class of children, including those born after Feb. 19, 2025.
- Boardman wrote that the administration’s narrower August order is very likely unconstitutional because the Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that children born in the United States are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment.
- Order 14418 targeted birth tourism and set categorical exceptions for children of certain parents—including some foreign government employees, people labeled foreign enemies, and those with alleged terrorism links—but the injunction leaves in effect only limited technical sections of the order.
- The lawsuit was brought by immigrant-rights groups including CASA Inc. and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and the injunction prevents the State Department, DHS, DOJ and Social Security Administration from denying citizenship documents to the protected class while the case proceeds.
- The ruling is preliminary, the administration has said it will keep defending the policy and may appeal up to the Supreme Court, so families covered by the class and courts in New Hampshire are likely to see further legal steps and rulings in the weeks ahead.