One of the executive orders Donald Trump signed on Jan. 20 shortly after taking the oath of office as president in which he swore to preserve, protect and defend the U.S. Constitution was one in which he took it upon himself to rewrite the Constitution.
Trump struck from the Constitution the provision that grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. New York Attorney General Letitia James and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the City of San Francisco joined today in filing a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to stop what Trump did.
“The principle of birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the Constitution for more than 150 years,” the lawsuit said. “The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment unambiguously and expressly confers citizenship on ‘[a]ll persons born’ in and ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States. More than 125 years ago, the Supreme Court confirmed that this entitles a child born in the United States to noncitizen parents to automatic citizenship.”
James said, “President Trump’s attempt to undermine the fundamental right to birthright citizenship is not just unconstitutional, it is profoundly dangerous. Today, we are suing to uphold the integrity of the U.S. Constitution and ensure the promise of birthright citizenship remains intact for all who are born here.”
James said that if allowed to stand, the Executive Order would mean, for the first time since the 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868, babies born in New York and around the country, who would have been citizens, will no longer be entitled to citizenship under federal law. Starting February 19, babies born to parents who are lawfully here on certain visas or are undocumented will be denied their most basic rights and forced to grow up under the threat of deportation.
Other lawsuits against Trump’s action have been filed, including one by the American Civil Liberties Union.
In addition to naming Donald Trump as a defendant, the lawsuit by the attorneys general names as defendants the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, the State Department and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the United States of America, among others.
The lawsuit says, “President Trump’s public statements make clear that he wishes to end birthright citizenship purely as a policy tactic to purportedly deter immigration to the United States. Despite a President’s broad powers to set immigration policy, however, the Citizenship Stripping Order falls far outside the legal bounds of the President’s authority.”
The lawsuit notes that, “The Order instructs all executive departments and agencies to implement this policy and specifically directs the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security, and Social Security Administration, to act in accordance with this policy.”
