It’s been less than 48 hours since Donald Trump became the United States’ president, but he’s already stirring the pot! Soon after his inauguration, he issued a slew of executive orders and memos, including about birthright citizenship.
On Tuesday, attorneys general from 22 states filed a lawsuit to block the president from ending the century-old immigration practice.
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What Does Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Say?
For context, birthright citizenship guarantees that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status. The president repeatedly mentioned his stance on the practice during his reelection campaign. Finally, on Monday, he put forth his roughly 700-word executive order. The order takes effect 30 days from Tuesday, Feb. 19.
But its success is far from guaranteed. According to the Associated Press, there will likely be a lengthy legal battle over the president’s immigration policies and constitutional right to citizenship. Trump’s order questions whether the 14th Amendment should automatically extend citizenship to anyone born in the United States. The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, states:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order asserts that the children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. It excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, and those whose mothers were lawfully but temporarily and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents.
It further bars federal agencies from recognizing the citizenship of people in those categories. It’s not clear whether the order would also affect birthright citizens. However, the order says that federal agencies “shall” not issue citizenship documents to the people it excludes. Federal agencies cannot accept other documents from states or local governments.
Here’s Where The Suing States Stand
Meanwhile, the Democratic attorneys general and immigrant rights advocates say the question of birthright citizenship is settled law. While presidents have broad authority, the lawsuit asserts they are not kings.
“The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence, period,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the lawsuit was personal for him. Tong is a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general.
“The 14th Amendment says what it means, and it means what it says —- if you are born on American soil, you are an American. Period. Full stop,” Tong said. “There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own.”
Immigrant rights groups, the District of Columbia, and San Francisco are also suing to stop Trump’s order. Meanwhile, chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and other immigrant rights advocates filed a suit in New Hampshire federal court.
