Federal Judge Allows Class-Action Lawsuit Against Trump's New Birthright Citizenship Order to Proceed

On August 18, 2026, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman lifted the stay in CASA, Inc. v. Trump, allowing the Maryland class-action lawsuit to proceed against President Trump's August 6 executive order restricting birthright citizenship. Although the Supreme Court's June 2026 decision struck down Trump's 2025 order seeking to end birthright citizenship, the new order directs federal agencies to deny citizenship to children of noncitizens when a parent is a foreign government official, an 'alien enemy,' 'engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship,' or 'engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship.' Plaintiffs' attorneys called the categories 'poorly defined,' arguing the order 'may be interpreted to immediately deny citizenship' to members of the class of U.S.-born children whose parents were in the country temporarily or illegally, and that counsel 'lack sufficient information about the meaning of the Order to advise class members on how the Order may or may not affect their rights.' Boardman declined to say whether her 2025 class-wide preliminary injunction reaches the new order, ordered the parties to file a status update after the order's 30-day guidance period, and set a September 11 deadline for a status report addressing the new executive action.

“I am not prepared to give you an off-the-cuff assessment of whether my preliminary injunction would apply to a new executive order” — U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman during the August 18 phone conference, declining to say off-hand whether her existing preliminary injunction reaches Trump's new executive order as she lifted the stay and set a September 11 status-report deadline Quote verified against source