AG Campbell Wins in Court, Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, alongside a coalition of attorneys general and the City of San Francisco, celebrated a significant legal victory this week as a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Trump’s executive order aimed at terminating birthright citizenship. The injunction underscores a commitment to upholding the Constitution and protecting the Fourteenth Amendment rights of American children.
The executive order, issued by President Trump on January 20, 2025, sought to end birthright citizenship—a right enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and codified in Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The order immediately faced legal challenges from states and municipalities, led by AG Campbell and attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin, and others, including the City and County of San Francisco.
In their lawsuit filed in the District of Massachusetts, the coalition argued that the executive order violated the Constitution and posed an imminent threat to hundreds of thousands of American children. The coalition sought an injunction to prevent the order from taking effect, a request that was granted by Judge Leo Sorokin.
Judge Sorokin, who presided over this critical case, is a highly respected United States district judge for the District of Massachusetts. Born in 1961, Sorokin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Yale College in 1983 and later received his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1991. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Rya W. Zobel of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1992. Sorokin’s career includes notable service in both the public and private sectors. He worked in private practice at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo P.C., before joining the Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts as an assistant attorney general from 1994 to 1996, and later as opinions coordinator. He also served as an assistant federal public defender in Boston from 1997 to 2005. In 2005, Sorokin was appointed as a United States magistrate judge, serving as chief magistrate judge in 2012. In 2014, President Barack Obama nominated him to serve as a United States district judge for the District of Massachusetts. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate with a 91–0 vote, reflecting bipartisan confidence in his judicial expertise and fairness.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell issued a strong statement following the ruling:
“President Trump may believe that he is above the law, but today’s preliminary injunction sends a clear message: He is not a king, and he cannot rewrite the Constitution with the stroke of a pen. We immediately stood up for our Constitution, for the rule of law, and for American children across the country who would have been deprived of their constitutional rights – and today we delivered for them. This is not yet over, and we will continue to fight every single step of the way until President Trump is permanently prevented from trampling on the Fourteenth Amendment rights of all Americans.”
Joining the statement, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong echoed the coalition’s resolve, emphasizing that the executive order undermines centuries of legal precedent protecting birthright citizenship.
Birthright citizenship has been a cornerstone of American constitutional law since the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. Designed to ensure citizenship for all children born in the U.S., including former slaves and their descendants, it was a direct response to the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision, which denied citizenship to African Americans. The U.S. Supreme Court has since reaffirmed that birthright citizenship is guaranteed regardless of the immigration status of the child’s parents.
If President Trump’s executive order were allowed to stand, it would mark a dramatic departure from this tradition, stripping citizenship from thousands of children born each year in states like Connecticut and Massachusetts. These children would lose not only their fundamental rights but also access to critical benefits such as Social Security, federal education programs, and healthcare services. They would face the threat of deportation, the inability to obtain a passport, and the loss of their right to vote, work, or serve on juries.
Beyond the immediate harm to families, the executive order poses serious financial and administrative challenges for states. Federal funding for programs like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and foster care assistance is tied to residents’ citizenship status. States would be forced to overhaul benefit programs, incurring significant costs to comply with an unconstitutional order.
The coalition’s filings highlight the profound consequences of the executive order, both for individuals and the states themselves. The states argue that they should not bear these burdens while litigation is ongoing, particularly given the order’s clear conflict with established law.
The preliminary injunction represents a critical step in blocking the implementation of the executive order. However, the legal battle is far from over. The coalition has vowed to continue its fight to ensure the executive order is permanently invalidated and the rights of all children born in the United States are safeguarded.
As the case moves forward, the attorneys general from Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Wisconsin, and others remain united in their commitment to protecting constitutional rights and preserving the longstanding principles of American citizenship. Judge Leo Sorokin’s decision to issue the preliminary injunction demonstrates the importance of the judiciary in upholding the rule of law and constitutional protections during moments of political and legal crisis.
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