Tuesday, January 21, 2025 - New US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday night vowing to end birthright citizenship in the U.S., despite a broad legal consensus that the Constitution guarantees American citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil.
Trump’s order directs federal agencies to refuse to
recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the U.S. to mothers who are in
the country illegally or there legally on visas, if the father is not a U.S.
citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The order would deny U.S. citizenship, including passports,
to those children born in the U.S. starting 30 days from now, if at least one
parent isn’t an American citizen or green card holder.
The Supreme Court ruled more than a century ago that
children born in the U.S. to foreign parents are U.S. citizens under the 14th
Amendment. The only legally recognized exception applies when both parents are
diplomats with immunity from U.S. laws.
However, some legal scholars who favour a crackdown on
immigration contend the 1898 ruling has been interpreted too broadly, and the
current Supreme Court could allow the government to set stricter standards for
citizenship. It’s also unclear whether the courts will conclude Trump has any
power to address the issue without an act of Congress to back him up.
In less than two hours after signing the law, Immigrant
rights advocates filed a lawsuit Monday night in federal court in New Hampshire
on behalf of a group representing Indonesian migrants in that state, along with
other groups representing Latinos and so-called Dreamers — individuals brought
to the U.S. as children by parents who entered or remained in the country
illegally.
It’s the first of a wave of suits expected to be filed over
Trump’s order. State officials from California and Illinois, among others, have
indicated plans to sue over the president’s directive, which was widely
advertised in advance.
The suit filed in New Hampshire contends that Trump’s order
violates the Constitution’s 14th Amendment as well as federal law that has been
on the books for more than 80 years.
“Neither the Constitution nor
any federal statute confers any authority on the President to redefine American
citizenship,” the suit says. “By attempting to limit the right to birthright
citizenship, the Order exceeds the President’s authority and runs afoul of the
Constitution and federal statute.”
The suit also says Trump’s order, if enforced, could render
some children stateless.
The complaint in the case was signed by a total of 26
attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, State Democracy Defenders
Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Asian Law Caucus
and lists New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin
American Citizens and Make the Road New York as the plaintiffs in the case.
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