Overview

• U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick issued a preliminary injunction halting the enforcement of the Trump administration's restrictive passport policy for six transgender and nonbinary plaintiffs.
• The policy, stemming from a January executive order, bars updates to gender markers and the use of 'X' markers on U.S. passports, requiring alignment with biological sex at birth.
• Judge Kobick ruled that the policy discriminates on the basis of sex and is rooted in prejudice, failing to meet the standard of intermediate judicial scrutiny.
• The injunction applies only to the named plaintiffs and does not block the policy nationwide, leaving it in effect for others pending further rulings.
• The ACLU, representing the plaintiffs, argued the policy invites discrimination and violates the Administrative Procedure Act by bypassing public notice and comment requirements.