Trump asks Supreme Court to block lower court 'universal' injuctions

 DC Daily Journal:

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On Thursday, the Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court with a pressing request: to curb the power of lower courts issuing sweeping rulings that have stalled a nationwide ban on birthright citizenship. The administration’s plea centers on the growing use of universal injunctions—court orders that halt policies across the entire country—arguing that such measures overstep judicial authority and disrupt the Executive Branch’s ability to function.

In its application to the justices, the administration contends that individual judges should not wield the power to dictate national policy from their courtrooms. By issuing universal injunctions, lower courts effectively freeze executive actions while legal challenges play out, a practice the administration says has surged in recent months. “District courts have issued more universal injunctions and TROs [temporary restraining orders] during February 2025 alone than through the first three years of the Biden Administration,” the application notes. This spike, the administration argues, paralyzes the government’s ability to carry out its duties before courts can fully evaluate the policies in question, while also clogging the Supreme Court’s emergency docket with urgent appeals.

For now, the Trump administration is not asking the Supreme Court to rule directly on the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship, signed on January 20, 2025. Instead, the focus is narrower—urging the justices to rein in the widespread use of universal injunctions. Such orders, the administration asserts, “compromise the Executive Branch’s ability to carry out its functions, as administrations of both parties have explained.” The goal is to limit these injunctions to the specific parties involved in a case, rather than allowing them to apply nationwide.

The administration’s filing frames the issue as one with significant stakes, particularly in the context of immigration policy. “These cases—which involve challenges to the President’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order concerning birthright citizenship—raise important constitutional questions with major ramifications for securing the border,” the application states. Yet, it describes its current request as “modest.” Rather than seeking a definitive ruling on the executive order itself, the government asks the Court to “restrict the scope” of existing preliminary injunctions that “purpor[t] to cover every person * * * in the country,” confining their reach to only those directly under the issuing courts’ jurisdiction.
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The argument is whether the courts have jurisdiction to decide cases beyond the reach of their jurisdiction.  Should a district court be able to render a judgment that impacts Americans and businesses outside its area of responsibility.  Those are the kind of rulings that should be limited to the Supreme Court.