A federal judge in New Hampshire has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that aimed to end birthright citizenship for certain U.S.-born children, marking another major legal hurdle in the former president's immigration agenda.

The ruling allows a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of immigrant parents and their newborns to proceed, halting the implementation of Trump’s order as the legal battle unfolds.

The judge approved the lawsuit shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision limiting the use of nationwide injunctions by federal courts.

Despite those new limits, the court left room for legal action under certain conditions, guidelines the current suit adheres to.

The Trump administration swiftly responded, sharply criticizing the decision and accusing the judge of disregarding recent Supreme Court guidance.

“Today's decision is an obvious and unlawful attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's clear order against universal relief. This judge's decision disregards the rule of law by abusing class action certification procedures,” said spokesperson Harrison Fields.

“The Trump Administration will be fighting vigorously against the attempts of these rogue district court judges to impede the policies President Trump was elected to implement.”

The U.S. Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born on American soil, but Trump sought to change that policy during his term, targeting children born to undocumented immigrants and foreign nationals.

His executive order, one of his early initiatives while in office, aimed to eliminate automatic citizenship for such children.

The lawsuit argues the order is both harmful and unconstitutional. The judge’s latest ruling not only halts the policy but also affirms that the legal challenge can move forward on behalf of the affected children.

Although the Supreme Court had recently sided with Trump in a 6-3 ruling that scaled back the authority of judges to issue broad injunctions, it did not rule on the legality of the birthright citizenship order itself.

That left room for cases like this one to advance under new procedural standards.

The administration had planned to implement the order on 27 July, following the Supreme Court’s decision. However, the judge's ruling has paused the policy once again and granted the federal government seven days to file an appeal.

Trump's order has faced repeated legal obstacles since it was first announced.

Several courts across the country had already issued temporary nationwide blocks while reviewing lawsuits, prompting the Trump administration to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court.