Casa v. Trump (2025)
ICAP is challenging the Executive Order purporting to deny citizenship to children born to undocumented mothers and mothers with lawful but temporary presence in the U.S. unless the father is a citizen or LPR. This order violates the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
We represent five pregnant mothers and two immigrant-rights organizations, CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), each of which has thousands of members who will be impacted by this order if not enjoined by the court. These include pregnant mothers with pending asylum claims, pregnant mothers in the U.S. on a student visa, pregnant mothers who have temporary protected status, and pregnant mothers who are undocumented. Some have lived, worked, and paid taxes here for decades and have U.S.-citizen children. Some own homes here. All have the expectation that their children born here will have the cherished status of a U.S. citizen that is guaranteed by the Constitution.
Filings
- 8/7/25 – U.S. District Court of Maryland granted a class-wide preliminary injunction against the President’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship
- 7/14/25 — Filed reply brief in the U.S. District Court of Maryland in support of class certification
- 7/9/25 – Filed a reply brief in the U.S. District Court of Maryland in support of class-wide injunctive relief
- 6/27/25 – Filed an amended class complaint, class certification brief, and a motion seeking immediate relief in the U.S. District Court of Maryland on behalf of a nationwide putative class of babies born or to be born whose citizenship might be taken away by the Executive Order, and their parents
- 5/30/25 – Filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of Plaintiffs-Appellees
- 5/15/25 – Presented oral argument urging the Court to leave in place the nationwide injunction protecting birthright citizenship
- 4/4/25 – Filed an opposition to the Government’s application for stay in the Supreme Court, arguing that the nationwide injunction protecting birthright citizenship should remain in effect
- 3/13/25 – Government filed application for a partial stay of the nationwide injunction in the Supreme Court
- 2/28/25 – 4th Circuit denies Defendants’ motion to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal
- 2/5/25 – Obtained a ruling granting a universal preliminary injunction to enjoin the enforcement of the President’s Executive Order
- 2/3/25 – Filed a reply in support of the previously filed preliminary injunction
- 1/21/25 – Filed a Complaint and motion for TRO in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to enjoin enforcement of the President’s Executive Order
In the News
- 6/30/25 – AP News covers federal judge seeking clarity in ICAP’s challenge of the President’s Executive Order following the Supreme Court birthright citizenship ruling
- 6/27/25 – NPR News covers birthright citizenship and Supreme Court ruling
- 6/27/25 – NBC News covers Supreme Court birthright citizenship ruling sparking new round of legal fights
- 2/5/25 – New York Times covers the issuance of a nationwide injunction blocking the effort to eliminate birthright citizenship
- 1/23/25 – NBC News covers ICAP’s suit to enjoin enforcement of the President’s Executive Order on birthright citizenship
- 1/22/25 – CBS News covers the filing of ICAP’s lawsuit in Maryland over Trump’s order on birthright citizenship
Press Releases
6/27/25 – SCOTUS Limits Nationwide Injunctions in Birthright Citizenship Case
1/21/25 – Pregnant Moms, ASAP, CASA Sue to Protect Birthright Citizenship