The ink had barely dried on President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship in the United States before Democratic states and civil rights organizations launched a barrage of lawsuits challenging the controversial move. In a sign of the fierce legal battles to come over Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, a coalition of 18 Democratic-led states joined forces with advocacy groups to file the first complaints mere hours after the order was signed.
Constitutional Showdown Commences
At the heart of the legal challenges is the argument that Trump’s executive order represents a blatant violation of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause, which states that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically granted American citizenship, regardless of their parents’ status. Attorneys general from states like New Jersey and Massachusetts wasted no time in denouncing the order as an illegal overreach.
“President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights.”
– Andrea Joy Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General
The multi-state lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, contends that if allowed to stand, Trump’s directive would strip citizenship from over 150,000 babies born annually to non-citizen or undocumented mothers. Among the plaintiffs is a woman residing in Massachusetts under temporary protected status who is due to give birth in March.
Uphill Court Battle Ahead
Legal scholars anticipate an arduous court fight over the citizenship question, with the lawsuits destined to wind through the judicial system for months or years to come. Most experts view Trump’s order as unlikely to survive constitutional scrutiny, pointing to the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which affirmed birthright citizenship for children of non-citizens.
- Key legal arguments against the executive order:
- Violates the plain language of the 14th Amendment
- Contradicts long-standing Supreme Court precedent
- Exceeds the constitutional powers of the presidency
However, defenders of Trump’s approach assert that birthright citizenship has been misapplied for decades and that the president is within his rights to reinterpret the law. With a conservative majority now firmly entrenched on the high court, some on the right harbor hope that justices may be receptive to revisiting the issue.
Just the Beginning
While the birthright citizenship lawsuits may be the first to land in court, they are unlikely to be the last. Advocacy organizations are already preparing additional challenges to other components of Trump’s immigration framework rolled out in his initial flurry of executive actions.
With a divided Congress unlikely to break its longstanding gridlock on immigration reform, the judicial branch appears poised to serve as the primary battleground over the boundaries of presidential power and the rights of immigrants in the dawning era of the Trump administration. As the birthright citizenship fight kicks into high gear, all eyes will be watching to see whether Trump’s transformative vision can withstand the scrutiny of the courts.
