Legal challenges to executive order revoking birthright citizenship pile up against Trump administration
‘The President's executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,’ says California attorney general
ISTANBUL
A group of Democratic state attorneys gathered to file a federal lawsuit Tuesday against President Donald Trump's executive order attempting to repeal birthright citizenship.
It came shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship.
"The President's executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and, quite frankly, un-American," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
"We are asking a court to immediately block this order from taking effect and ensure that the rights of American-born children impacted by this order remain in effect while litigation proceeds. The President has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable," the statement continued.
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the executive order from being enforced and, ultimately, to have it declared invalid.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin are among the states that have joined the suit.
The order has also been challenged by other advocacy groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, who have filed a separate lawsuit.
"Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional—it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans," Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement late Monday.
During his inaugural speech earlier Monday, Trump said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eradicate foreign gangs and criminals from US soil.
