Donald Trump’s executive order taking aim at birthright citizenship is already facing several lawsuits.
On Monday night, Trump was hit with lawsuits in federal court in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, with more than a dozen Democratic states filing another lawsuit the following day. More lawsuits against the order are expected to be filed in California and Illinois, Politico reports.
The lawsuits come after Trump on his first day as president signed an executive order ending the right to birthright citizenship for some children born in the United States. The order directs the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of anyone whose mother was not a legal U.S. resident and whose father wasn’t a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; people whose mothers only had temporary legal residency in the U.S.; and people with fathers who were not citizens or legal permanent residents when they were born.
The lawsuits allege that Trump’s order violates the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, as well as other federal law going back over 80 years, and may leave some children stateless.
“Neither the Constitution nor any federal statute confers any authority on the President to redefine American citizenship,” the New Hampshire lawsuit states. “By attempting to limit the right to birthright citizenship, the Order exceeds the President’s authority and runs afoul of the Constitution and federal statute.”
Trump’s executive order came on the same day that he took an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Trump’s choice for attorney general, Pam Bondi, was evasive about protecting birthright citizenship during her first confirmation hearing last week, saying only that she would “study” the issue. But the language of the Fourteenth Amendment is explicit:
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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Trump’s barrage of executive orders from his first day in office have been met with several lawsuits, including over his removal of certain employment protections and over the authority of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
Those lawsuits have now entered the federal court system, where their fates will depend on which judge will preside over them. During Trump’s first term, he appointed 234 federal judges, many of whom are now responsible for approving conservative priorities and defending Trump from legal action. Now Trump will depend on these friendly judges to rule against the lawsuits filed against his executive orders.
President Biden and his fellow Democrats did prioritize appointing liberal judges over the last four years, throwing a snag into conservative hopes for a rubber-stamp judiciary. Ultimately, though, the decision over birthright citizenship will likely reach the Supreme Court itself, where conservatives enjoy a 6–3 majority. Will they be willing to disregard the Fourteenth Amendment altogether?
This story has been updated.