From Harvard to deporting ‘aliens’ and liberation day tariffs: When US courts BLOCKED Donald Trump's orders

A US trade court blocked President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" import tariffs from going into effect. The court ruled that the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from nations that sell more to the United States than they buy. The Trump administration said it would appeal the ruling.

This is not the first time that the Trump administration and the judiciary have been at the loggerheads. There have been several occasions in the past when US judges objected to or put a halt to policies launched by Trump since he took office on January 20, 2025. Here are a few instances when this happened:

1. Suspending Biden-era migrant 'parole' programs

Earlier in March this year, US President Donald Trump's administration decided to revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States.

The move, effective April 24, sought to cut short a two-year "parole" granted to the migrants under former President Joe Biden that allowed them to enter the country by air if they had US sponsors.

Later in April, District Judge Indira Talwani announced that she will block the POTUS from revoking the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans in the US.

On May 29, the judge ordered the Trump administration to resume processing applications from migrants seeking work permits or more lasting immigration status who are living in the country temporarily under "parole" programs.

2. Revoking Harvard enrollment of foreign students

A US judge had on May 24 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University's ability to enrol foreign students. The order provided temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer.

3. Mass layoffs

Earlier this month, US District Judge Susan Illston extended a temporary block on a bid by President Donald Trump's administration to lay off hundreds of thousands of federal employees, saying he needed permission from Congress before restructuring the US government.

Mass layoffs is a key piece of Trump's plans to downsize or eliminate many federal agencies, pending the outcome of a lawsuit by unions, nonprofits and municipalities. On May 9, US District Judge Susan Illston blocked about 20 agencies from making mass layoffs for two weeks and ordered the reinstatement of workers who had already lost their jobs.

4. Dismantle Education Department, federal agencies

US District Judge Myong Joun had also blocked Trump's administration from carrying out his executive order to dismantle the US Department of Education and ordered it to reinstate employees terminated in a mass layoff.

The Trump administration was also blocked from firing workers and taking other steps to shut down federal agencies that fund museums and libraries, mediate labor disputes and support minority-owned businesses.

5. Withholding funds from 16 'sanctuary' cities, counties

In April, US District Judge William Orrick blocked Donald Trump's administration from withholding federal funding from more than a dozen so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that have declined to cooperate with the Republican president's hardline immigration crackdown.

6. Freeze on climate, infrastructure grants

US District Judge Mary McElroy blocked President Donald Trump's administration from freezing billions of dollars in grants Congress authorised under climate investment and infrastructure laws of his Democratic predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

Judge McElroy in Providence, Rhode Island, had then issued an injunction at the behest of environmental groups who argued the Trump administration was unlawfully freezing already-awarded funding for projects to combat climate change, reduce pollution and modernize US infrastructure.

7. $11 billion health funding cut

US District Judge Mary S. McElroy had in April temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from cutting more than $11 billion in public health grants allocated to US states during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grant funding was used by states to track, prevent and control infectious diseases, including measles and bird flu, as well as track mental health services and fund addiction treatment.

8. Deporting ‘aliens’

In March, Trump had invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to fast-track deporting individuals connected to Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang. The Alien Enemies Act grants the president of the United States sweeping powers to order the detention and deportation of "foreign enemies".

However, a few hours later, a federal judge, James Boasberg, temporarily halted mass deportations and asked the Trump administration to quickly put a hold on the efforts to remove Venezuelan migrants.

However, the administration proceeded with deportations to El Salvador, escalating tensions.

Later, US District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston issued a nationwide temporary restraining order designed to protect migrants subject to final orders of removal from being swiftly deported to countries other than those that had already been identified during immigration proceedings.

9. Order against law firm WilmerHale

US District Judge Richard Leon in Washington struck down an executive order targeting law firm WilmerHale. The judge said Trump's order retaliated against the firm in violation of US constitutional protections for free speech and due process.

10. Expulsion of Indian researcher

A US judge ordered that Indian researcher Badar Khan Suri not be removed from the country, following his arrest and threat of expulsion for alleged Hamas ties. 

The detention of Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, came as fears mount in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged two months into US President Donald Trump's new term.

11. Accessing Social Security records

On March 20, a federal judge blocked Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security records as part of its hunt under President Donald Trump for fraud and waste, calling the effort a "fishing expedition."

12. Trump's transgender military ban

A federal judge temporarily blocked the US military from enforcing President Donald Trump's executive order barring transgender people from military service while a lawsuit by 20 current and would-be service members challenging the measure goes forward.

US District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington found Trump's January 27 order, one of several issued by the Republican president targeting legal rights for transgender Americans, likely violated the US Constitution's prohibition on sex discrimination.

Later on May 6, a divided US Supreme Court allowed Trump's ban on transgender individuals serving in the military to take effect, putting thousands of active-duty troops at risk of removal. eed.