Do you support President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship?
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A coalition of 18 states – including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maryland – are named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump administration that was filed in Massachusetts federal court on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
The suit argues that Trump’s order denying US citizenship to the children of those who are neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident is unlawful.
“This dangerous and unconstitutional order undermines the very fabric of our Constitution and the promise of the American dream,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “We will fight to protect the integrity of our Constitution and the fundamental rights it guarantees.”
The controversial order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” was issued just hours after Trump was sworn into office for his second term on Monday, Jan. 20. It is set to take effect on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Trump’s order hinges on the 14th Amendment’s phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, arguing that it excludes children of parents who entered the country illegally. Most legal scholars, however, contend that this language applies only to diplomats and foreign emissaries exempt from U.S. laws, NBC News reports.
If enacted, the policy would lead to “immediate and irreparable harm” for an estimated 150,000 people across the United States, including 6,200 in New Jersey and 4,200 in Massachusetts, the plaintiffs argued.
“If this unprecedented executive action is allowed to stand… such children born after February 19, 2025, who would have been unquestionably deemed citizens had they been born two days ago, will lack any legal status in the eyes of the federal government,” the lawsuit states. “They will all be deportable, and many will be stateless.”
Affected residents would also lose their rights to work, vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices, the plaintiffs argued.
Legal experts argue Trump’s reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment defies more than a century of constitutional precedent, including a landmark 1898 Supreme Court case that affirmed that children born on U.S. soil are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
“Presidents can’t overrule the Constitution and centuries of precedent with a stroke of a pen,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a statement. “When we say we will fight for the rule of law, we mean it.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed its own lawsuit on Monday, Jan. 20, asserting that the policy “flouts the Constitution, Congress, and Supreme Court precedent.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the policy before it can be implemented. The legal battle is expected to reach the Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the scope of birthright citizenship in modern times.
Monday's executive order on birthright citizenship was one of several signed by Trump on Monday, including a freeze on federal hiring, withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, and delaying a federal TikTok ban for 75 days.
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