By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — During his first few days in office, President Donald Trump has taken several executive actions to combat illegal immigration. That includes an executive order targeting birthright citizenship.
In his first three days, Trump has reinstated the Remain in Mexico policy and signed executive orders aimed at shutting down the southern border, ramping up deportations and even attempting to end birthright citizenship, which has been protected by the U.S. Constitution for decades.
As of Thursday, more than two-dozen states have filed lawsuits challenging President Trump’s executive order to overturn birthright citizenship.
Under the 14th Amendment, “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.”
“I believe that birthright citizenship, is time to go,” said Congressman Jack Bergman (R- MI).
The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 to extend citizenship to formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. But over the years, Rep. Bergman and many Republicans in Congress say it has become a tool to subvert the legal immigration process.
“It was to protect people who had been disadvantaged over a long period of time. It was not meant for people to want to come here and just have babies here to subvert a process,” said Bergman.
Today, House Republicans announced legislation designed to back up Trump’s executive order. The legislation would amend federal immigration law to narrow the scope of citizenship, even though the right is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
“If the framers of the 14th Amendment would have known how abused the notion of birthright citizenship would be, which was not even a notion in the 1860s, they would have been absolutely stunned,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R- AZ).
Democrats, immigration advocates and attorneys argue birthright citizenship is a well-established right.
“President Trump’s decision to fast track deportations is chaotic, unfair, and inhumane. We hope the courts will order President Trump to do his constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia.
“Well, it’s protected by the 14th Amendment. So, he’s violating the Constitution and the constitutional rights of these young American citizens,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY).
If birthright citizenship were to be overturned, Sen. Gillibrand says it would be catastrophic.
“It’s important to have a very thorough legal review of this idea. But I think it’s very damaging. It’s going to rip families apart and be very harmful,” said Gillibrand.
The order is supposed to take effect in late February. It would also extend to children born to parents with temporary legal status in the U.S., such as foreign students or tourists.
Thursday afternoon, a federal judge in Seattle, WA said the President’s order was “blatantly unconstitutional” and issued a temporary restraining order to block it. The lawsuits filed by several states this week are likely the beginning of a lengthy legal battle that could end up in the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
According to 2022 data from the Pew Research Center, about 1.3 million U.S.-born adults are children of immigrants without legal status.
