A coalition of twenty-four states and cities, all led by Democrats, is taking legal action against President Donald Trump’s attempt to abolish birthright citizenship in the United States.
The lawsuits claim that an executive order signed by Trump on January 20 infringes upon the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to every child born on American 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 end up becoming the first major Supreme Court showdown for Trump’s second-term agenda. The 18 states filed in a Massachusetts federal court, which means any appeal of a ruling from that court will come up through the First US Circuit Court of Appeals, where all the judges are Democratic appointees.
The Supreme Court has upheld birthright citizenship in the past and there is also a federal law passed by Congress, predating the 14th Amendment’s 1868 ratification, establishing that children born on US soil are entitled 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 from Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois initiated their own legal action on the West Coast.
This lawsuit was submitted to a federal court in Seattle, which falls under the jurisdiction of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both lawsuits aim to secure a preliminary injunction to prevent the policy from being enacted before the Trump administration has a chance to put it into effect.
On Monday, similar legal challenges against Trump’s order were filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and various immigration rights organizations.
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