This story was updated on Jan. 27 with new information.
On Jan. 21, more than 20 states sued the Trump Administration over the executive order to end birthright citizenship to children born to undocumented migrants.
The lawsuit by the states was filed in a federal court in Massachusetts. The lawsuit stated how the executive order violated the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
The suit seeks to prohibit the executive order’s policies from taking place in their respective states.
On Jan. 23, Federal District Judge John Coughenour filed to restrain the executive order urged by Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. This would prevent the enforcement of the executive order by 14 days.
Nick Brown, the attorney general of Washington, shared his thoughts on the decision made by Coughenour.
“We certainly have a long way to go,” Brown said in an interview with PBS. “This is only a temporary restraining order, but it has a really important impact.”
The Trump Administration plans to challenge the ruling.
“Obviously we’ll appeal it,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Jan. 24.
ORIGINAL STORY (posted Jan. 21)
Just hours after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump signed an executive order that would end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented migrants.
The executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” states that no department of the U.S. government shall grant citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents are “unlawfully present” or if the presence was “lawful, but temporary.”
If not overturned by the Supreme Court, the order would only apply to children born in the United States 30 days after Jan. 20.
The order is likely to be challenged in court due to the longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants birthright citizenship to those born in the United States.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
In the 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision United States v. Wong Kim Ark, birthright citizenship was established for those born in the United States regardless of their parents’ descent.
The factors of birthright citizenship held in United States v. Wong Kim Ark has the potential to be overturned by the Supreme Court if Trump’s executive order is deemed constitutional.
Trump himself acknowledged that the order will be legally challenged.
“I think we have good grounds,” Trump stated when asked at the Oval Office today.
The executive order states that “the 14th Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”
The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has been interpreted to mean that not all persons born in the United States qualify for U.S. citizenship because they may not be fully governed by U.S. laws or regulations.
According to The Washington Post, the Trump Administration plans to move forward on pushing the policies from the executive order despite facing potential legal challenges.
“We’re going to have to get a change, it will maybe have to go back to the people but we have to end [birthright citizenship],” Trump said in an interview on NBC.
It is unclear if or when this order will go to the Supreme Court. Although it will most likely be challenged, the Supreme Court’s decision will be highly anticipated as it has been reversing longstanding legal precedents such as Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council and Roe v. Wade.