Laplante made the decision following a class-action lawsuit, a new strategy that overturned the Supreme Court's decision to limit district courts from making decisions with national impact.

Judge Laplante granted the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ request to certify a nationwide class action lawsuit and also issued a block on Trump’s executive order.

“The preliminary injunction is not a difficult decision for the court,” the judge declared, arguing that stripping a newborn of citizenship in the United States “is an irreparable harm.”

The Trump administration can appeal the decision, acknowledged the judge appointed by former President George W. Bush, but his decision is relevant in the face of a new landscape of lawsuits whose decisions in district courts can have a national impact.

Laplante was among the first judges to rule on a first wave of lawsuits against Trump’s executive order, but his decision was blocked by the Supreme Court, which limited the national impact of lower courts.

With the new class action lawsuit, Judge Laplante opens the possibility that the court battle over birthright citizenship—and what the 14th Amendment of the Constitution indicates—may reach an appeals court and, possibly to the Supreme Court, where the justices could now rule on the merits of the case.

In this case, the class representatives include a Honduran asylum seeker living in New Hampshire who is expecting a baby in October, and a Brazilian man seeking legal permanent residency whose wife gave birth in March.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs argued that if President Trump's executive order remains in place, Newborns born to undocumented immigrants will face “stigma” and various problems.

“These children will face numerous obstacles to living in the United States, including stigma and possible statelessness,” they indicated.

The lawsuit was joined by the ACLU of New Hampshire, the ACLU of Maine, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Law Caucus, and the Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of a proposed group of babies and their parents subject to Trump’s executive order.

One more decision to come

At the end of June, following the Supreme Court’s decision, another class-action lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Washington, DC, where a decision is expected soon.

That lawsuit is led by a group of pregnant women: Maribel, Juana, Trinidad García, Mónica, Liza, Ashley, Andrea, and Niurka.

“Ultimately, we will be able to “Obtain class-action protection for everyone in the country whose baby could potentially be covered by the executive order, assuming we are successful,” said William Powell, senior counsel to ICAP, at the time.