Attorneys General from 22 states in the United States of America have filed a joint lawsuit aiming to block President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.
The lawsuit which is being spearheaded by the Attorney General of Colorado and supported by 21 other states, is predicted on what they describe as Trump’s trampling on a principle enshrined in the U.S. Constitution that guarantees that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump had used his presidential powers to sign 42 executive orders among which was to initiate his long-promised immigration crackdown, which was one of his key campaign points.
His executive actions also included an order directing the federal government to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates, and other documents to many children born in the U.S. whose mothers are in the country illegally or whose parents are not legal permanent residents.
Under the president’s order, the U.S. government would stop issuing federal identification documents, like Social Security cards and U.S. passports, to infants unless at least one of their parents is a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
What the order stipulates could be far reaching as people who are stripped of their U.S. citizenship automatically lose eligibility for a wide range of federal benefits programs and to work lawfully in the country including their right to vote, run for certain offices and are threatened with the risk of deportation.
States could also be impacted by a loss of federal funding for key programs, the attorneys general wrote, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, foster care and adoption assistance programs.
But in the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Court of Massachusetts. the Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, called the president’s move a violation of the constitutional rights that children born in the U.S. are entitled to.
The other states i the suit include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia and the city and county of San Francisco also signed on to the lawsuit, while Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington filed a separate lawsuit in the Western District of Washington state.
“The idea that a president could override the Constitution with the stroke of a pen is a flagrant assault on the rule of law and our constitutional republic,” Weiser said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.
“The executive order cannot be allowed to stand, and I will fight to ensure that all who are born in the United States keep their right to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges,” Weiser added.