President Donald Trump Ends Birthright Citizenship
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented immigrants and those on temporary visas.
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This goes into effect in 30 days and is not retroactive.
The executive order redefines the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause which 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.” The new policy says children born on US soil to parents who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents will no longer be born citizens.
This has already led to l@wsu!ts. 18 state attorneys general, including Washington and New Jersey, have filed l@wsu!ts saying the executive order violates the 14th Amendment. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said the US Supreme Court has affirmed birth citizenship for over 100 years so the order is unconstitutional.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said the order undermines basic constitutional rights.
Civil rights groups have also filed suit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a l@wsu!t challenging the executive order, saying birthright citizenship is a fundamental promise of equality in the US.
They call it a “blatant attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of American-born children of their citizenship based on their parents.”
Legal experts say the executive order is unconstitutional. For over a century, the 14th Amendment has been interpreted to grant citizenship to almost everyone born on US soil regardless of their parent’s immigration status. The Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) established birthright citizenship as broad, which this executive order is trying to undo.
The administration’s effort to end birthright citizenship will be litigated for years. With the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, predicting the outcome is hard. However many legal scholars say any change to birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment which is a long and difficult process.
