A federal judge in Boston has once again drawn a clear constitutional line through the heart of Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin isn’t budging on his February order that froze Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship—and he’s made it clear: this freeze stays nationwide.
The Trump administration, hoping to carve out a narrower ruling after a recent Supreme Court decision clipped judges’ wings on sweeping national injunctions, found no such relief in Sorokin’s courtroom. According to the judge, nothing short of a full-country pause will prevent chaos and constitutional harm.
“The evidence doesn’t support any narrower fix,” Sorokin wrote. To him, scaling back would invite legal confusion, unequal treatment, and a bureaucratic nightmare, especially for programs like Medicaid and federal identification systems.
At the heart of the battle is Trump’s executive order—signed the moment he reclaimed the White House on January 20—that aimed to strip citizenship from U.S.-born children whose parents aren’t citizens or permanent residents. Twenty-two Democratic states swiftly challenged it, arguing it tramples the 14th Amendment.
They weren’t alone. Immigrant rights advocates piled in, saying the move was not only unconstitutional but dangerous, creating a patchwork citizenship system where your legal identity would depend on what state you’re born in.
The administration claimed that courts misunderstood the Constitution’s birthright clause. “We believe we will be vindicated on appeal,” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson.
But backers of the injunction didn’t mince words. “American-born babies are American, just like they always have been,” said New Jersey’s Attorney General, calling the ruling a win for common sense and constitutional clarity.
The legal tug-of-war is unfolding in a landscape newly shaped by the Supreme Court’s June decision that sought to rein in federal judges issuing broad orders. But even that ruling left the door cracked for exceptions—and Sorokin walked right through it.
Meanwhile, other judges are following suit. A New Hampshire court recently blocked the same policy in a class action lawsuit on behalf of children who stood to lose citizenship. And a California appeals court delivered another blow, declaring the order flat-out unconstitutional.
For now, Trump’s executive order remains in legal limbo. But for thousands of families across America, Judge Sorokin’s message is simple and unshaken: *if you’re born here, you belong here.*
