24 Democratic States and Cities Sue Over Donald Trump’s Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship
Twenty-four Democratic-led states and cities have filed lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s attempt to terminate birthright citizenship in the United States.
The legal actions argue that the executive order signed by Trump on Monday, January 20, infringes upon the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil.
“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,” states a lawsuit from 18 states, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.
The case could become the first significant Supreme Court confrontation for Trump’s second-term agenda.
The 18 states filed the lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal court, meaning any appeal from that court would go through the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where all judges are Democratic appointees.
The Supreme Court has previously upheld birthright citizenship, and there is also a federal law, predating the 14th Amendment’s ratification in 1868, that grants children born on U.S. soil the right to citizenship.
“The president’s entitled to put forth a policy agenda that he sees fit,” New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who is co-leading the new lawsuit, told CNN.
“When it comes to birthright citizenship – something that’s been part of the fabric of this nation for centuries, that’s been in the Constitution for 157 years since the Civil War, that’s been upheld by the Supreme Court twice – the president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, rewrite the Constitution and upend the rule of law,” he added.
On Tuesday, the attorneys general of Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois also filed their own lawsuit on the West Coast. This suit was submitted to a federal court in Seattle, which falls under the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both lawsuits are seeking a preliminary order to block the policy before the Trump administration can take steps to enforce it.
The American Civil Liberties Union and immigration rights groups had also filed similar lawsuits challenging Trump’s order on Monday.
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