PHOENIX- The day after President Trump signed an executive order that aims to end birthright citizenship, the AZ Attorney General, a group of Democrat state attorneys general, and the ACLU are suing to try and block the move, describing it as unconstitutional.
President Trump signed an executive order PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, terminating birthright citizenship for newborns who are born in America to undocumented parents. Birthright citizenship is a legal principle under which citizenship is automatically granted to individuals upon birth. There are two forms of birthright citizenship: ancestry-based citizenship and birthplace-based citizenship. Birthplace-based citizenship, which grants citizenship based on place of birth, is formally referred to as jus soli, a Latin term meaning “right of the soil.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, was joined by Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and others. The complaint asserts that President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship in the United States violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union also filed suit in federal court seeking to have President Trump’s order blocked and declared “unconstitutional and unlawful in its entirety.” The ACLU’s court action was buttressed Tuesday by a similar lawsuit filed by a dozen attorneys general from blue states seeking a permanent injunction of Trump’s order.
ACLU suit against President Trump’s birthright citizenship order
Attorney General Mayes’ suit asserts the president has no authority to override the Constitution and that no constitutional provision or law empowers him to determine who should or should not be granted U.S. citizenship at birth.
Birthright citizenship complaint AZ Mayes
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, stipulates that all persons “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are automatically citizens.
The language was crafted and added to the Constitution to establish full citizenship rights for Black Americans. Still, it’s been interpreted for over a century as granting rights to all children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parent’s immigration status.
“No executive order can supersede the United States Constitution and over 150 years of settled law,” said Attorney General Mayes. “While President Trump may want to take this nation back to a time before all American citizens were treated equally under the law – we will not allow him to do so. I am proud to stand with my fellow attorneys general to defend the Constitutional rights that countless American patriots have fought for and died to protect.”
Despite the 14th Amendment’s intention to define citizenship rights and equal protection, the question of who is or is not a U.S. citizen has been debated for more than 100 years – and remains contentious today. The hot-button issue of illegal immigration has escalated the rhetoric about who “belongs,” even spawning a pejorative term for the children of people living in the U.S. without legal permission: “anchor babies.”
According to Pew Research, about 250,000 babies were born to unauthorized immigrant parents in the United States in 2016, which is a 36% decrease from a peak in 2007. By 2022, the latest year that data is available, there are 1.2m US citizens born to unauthorized immigrant parents, Pew found.
President Trump’s Order: Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
“Birthright citizenship has allowed America to become the vibrant and dynamic home to families from all corners of this planet,” continued Attorney General Mayes. “It has helped make our country the strong, prosperous, and great nation that it is today.”
Attorney General Mayes stands to lose over 100 million in federal money from the Trump Administration and could see legal problems, resorting to legal battles that could last years. Also, the American people gave President Trump a mandate, and this issue, among others, will be contentious for several years.