In addition to New Jersey, District of Columbia and San Francisco, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the lawsuit filed by New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin to stop the order
Updated On – 22 January 2025, 12:38 AM
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: PTI
Newark: New Jersey and more than a dozen States said on Tuesday they are challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.
New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin said on Tuesday that he’s leading a group of 18 States, the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco in filing a lawsuit blocking Trump’s order.
“Presidents have broad power but they are not kings,” Platkin said. Trump’s order would end the policy of automatically granting citizenship to people born in the US, a move he said on the campaign trail he would do once in office.
In addition to New Jersey and the two cities, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the lawsuit to stop the order.
What is birthright citizenship?
Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the US is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. People, for instance, in the United States on a tourist or other visa or in the country illegally can become the parents of a citizen if their child is born here.
It’s been in place for decades and enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, supporters say. But Trump and allies dispute the reading of the amendment and say there need to be tougher standards on becoming a citizen.
What does Trump’s order say?
The order questions that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship automatically to anyone born in the United States. The 14th Amendment was born in the aftermath of the Civil War and ratified in 1868. It says: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not US citizens or lawful permanent residents; people whose mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents.
It goes on to bar federal agencies from recognising the citizenship of people in those categories. It takes effect 30 days from Tuesday, on February 19.
What is the history of the issue?
The 14th Amendment did not always guarantee birthright citizenship to all US-born people. In 1898, an important birthright citizenship case unfolded in the US Supreme Court. The court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a US citizen because he was born in the country.
After a trip abroad, he had faced denied reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he wasn’t a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act. But some advocates of immigration restrictions have argued that while the case clearly applied to children born to parents who are both legal immigrants, it’s less clear whether it applies to children born to parents without legal status.