New US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday night vowing to end birthright citizenship in the U.S., despite a broad legal consensus that the Constitution guarantees American citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil.
Trump’s order directs federal agencies to refuse to recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the U.S. to mothers who are in the country illegally or there legally on visas, if the father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The order would deny U.S. citizenship, including passports, to those children born in the U.S. starting 30 days from now, if at least one parent isn’t an American citizen or green card holder.
The Supreme Court ruled more than a century ago that children born in the U.S. to foreign parents are U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment. The only legally recognized exception applies when both parents are diplomats with immunity from U.S. laws.
However, some legal scholars who favour a crackdown on immigration contend the 1898 ruling has been interpreted too broadly, and the current Supreme Court could allow the government to set stricter standards for citizenship. It’s also unclear whether the courts will conclude Trump has any power to address the issue without an act of Congress to back him up.
In less than two hours after signing the law, Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit Monday night in federal court in New Hampshire on behalf of a group representing Indonesian migrants in that state, along with other groups representing Latinos and so-called Dreamers — individuals brought to the U.S. as children by parents who entered or remained in the country illegally.
It’s the first of a wave of suits expected to be filed over Trump’s order. State officials from California and Illinois, among others, have indicated plans to sue over the president’s directive, which was widely advertised in advance.
The suit filed in New Hampshire contends that Trump’s order violates the Constitution’s 14th Amendment as well as federal law that has been on the books for more than 80 years.
“Neither the Constitution nor any federal statute confers any authority on the President to redefine American citizenship,” the suit says. “By attempting to limit the right to birthright citizenship, the Order exceeds the President’s authority and runs afoul of the Constitution and federal statute.”
The suit also says Trump’s order, if enforced, could render some children stateless.
The complaint in the case was signed by a total of 26 attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, State Democracy Defenders Fund, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and the Asian Law Caucus and lists New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens and Make the Road New York as the plaintiffs in the case.
