Earthjustice Responds to Supreme Court Decision on Birthright Citizenship and Nationwide Injunctions

Today, Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen issued the following statement in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that limits federal courts’ ability to enjoin unlawful executive actions on a nationwide basis and sets the stage for allowing President Trump’s unilateral, unlawful order limiting birthright citizenship to take effect in some parts of the country: 

“Today’s ruling avoided weighing in on the merits of President Trump’s efforts to upend one of the oldest legal truths of our country — that any person born here is a citizen. But the Court’s conservative bloc took sweeping action to preclude lower courts from issuing ‘universal injunctions,’ a dramatic move that will embolden the President in advancing his intentionally lawless agenda. 

“Today’s decision limits an essential pathway to check the clear abuse of executive power in the courts. By abandoning the judiciary’s fundamental role in shielding all people from the real-time harm of unconstitutional policies, the Court jeopardizes everyone’s ability to vindicate fundamental rights. We can expect enormous damage to flow from this decision. 

“This decision strikes a blow to the rule of law in a case of enormous consequence, but it will not deter the work of Earthjustice. The most common remedies that we seek to protect the environment and people’s health — tailored injunctions and invalidation or ‘vacatur’ of illegal federal actions — were not affected by the Court’s ruling.  And, as the court’s opinion recognizes, class actions provide a vehicle for pursuing broad relief, albeit at a much slower pace and at a much greater cost. We are fully prepared to bring more of them.”