City Attorney Chiu and advocates will hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. today in Chinatown
SAN FRANCISCO (June 27, 2025) — City Attorney David Chiu issued the following statement today after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. CASA, Inc. that federal district court judges cannot issue nationwide preliminary injunction orders in most circumstances.
While the case began as a challenge to President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order ending birthright citizenship, the Court did not decide the issue of birthright. Instead, the Trump Administration filed an emergency petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the separate legal issue of whether federal district court judges can issue universal injunctions that prohibit or require behavior nationwide.
The preliminary injunction order in the birthright citizenship litigation, in which San Francisco is a Plaintiff, remains in effect. The Supreme Court has ordered that the District Court consider whether the nationwide injunctions are necessary to provide the jurisdictions complete relief. The City has every reason to believe the District Court will deem a nationwide injunction necessary.
“Some conservative judges certainly have stretched the bounds of nationwide injunctions to block Presidential actions, but there are times when nationwide injunctions are appropriate and necessary,” said City Attorney Chiu.
“Birthright citizenship is a perfect example of when a universal injunction is necessary. Indeed, the District Court below found exactly that. Practically speaking, you can’t require some states to issue birth certificates to birthright citizens and prohibit other states from doing so. It would be a logistical mess. The issue of birthright citizenship inherently requires nationwide relief.
To be clear, the Court’s decision today says nothing either way about the merits of birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is still enshrined in our Constitution.
Today’s Supreme Court decision has profoundly disturbing implications for our rule of law. The Court’s decision limits the judiciary’s own authority and makes it more difficult for the people to protect themselves against executive overreach and authoritarianism. Rather than recognize nearly a century’s worth of judicial practice, the Court instead looked to the origins of the judicial opinions of the king. But, we do not have a king.
If today’s decision does anything, it emphasizes how important it is for cities like San Francisco to be in court when this administration illegally oversteps, as it often does. We must be in the fight ourselves to ensure that we can protect San Francisco’s interests.”
City Attorney Chiu and Chinese American community leaders will host a press conference on the ruling today, June 27 at 10:00am PST at Chinese for Affirmative Action, located at 17 Walter U. Lum Place in San Francisco.
The consolidated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court were Trump v. New Jersey, Trump v. CASA, Inc., and Trump v. Washington, Case No. 24A886. The Court’s decision can be found here.
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