Attorneys representing the Trump administration had asked the circuit court to overturn the block placed by U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts, arguing that New Jersey and the other states and organizations that sued didn’t have the legal right, or standing, to bring the lawsuit in the first place.

The court concluded that the executive order, which sought to alter birthright citizenship provisions, likely violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Consequently, the court enjoined the federal government from implementing or enforcing the executive order. ​