Immigration advocates have filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump following his move to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the country. The lawsuit was quickly filed in New Hampshire on Monday evening, shortly after Trump signed an executive order at the White House aimed at ending the longstanding birthright citizenship policy.
The order, set to take effect in 30 days, challenges over a century of U.S. policy and constitutional interpretations. During a Monday briefing, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to the controversial change, stating that the federal government would no longer recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and would enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens.
Ending birthright citizenship has been a key part of Trump’s Agenda47 policy, which seeks to reinterpret the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The campaign argued that citizenship should apply “only to those both born in AND ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States.”
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To defend the policy, the Justice Department will need to persuade courts to adopt a more limited interpretation of the Constitution, a stance supported by some conservative legal scholars. This legal challenge could alter the understanding of the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved people. Section 1 of the amendment states: “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.”
While the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” generally excludes children of foreign diplomats, the Supreme Court has consistently upheld birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, despite numerous challenges, according to the American Immigration Council.
