Twenty-four Democratic-led states and cities are filing lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright in the United States.
The lawsuits allege that a Trump executive order that was signed recently, violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which gives a constitutional right of citizenship to every child born in the United States.
A lawsuit from 18 states, San Francisco, Washington and DC stated: “Despite a President’s broad powers to set immigration policy, however, the Citizenship Stripping Order falls far outside the legal bounds of the President’s authority.”
The case could end up becoming the first major Supreme Court case for Trump’s second-term agenda. Since the 18 states filed in a Massachusetts federal court, it means any appeal of a ruling from that court will come up via the First US Circuit Court of Appeals, where all the judges are Democratic appointees.
While talking to CNN, New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who is co-leading the new lawsuit, said: “The president’s entitled to put forth a policy agenda that he sees fit.
“When it comes to birthright citizenship – something that’s been part of the fabric of this nation for centuries, that’s been in the Constitution for 157 years since the Civil War, that’s been upheld by the Supreme Court twice – the president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, rewrite the Constitution and upend the rule of law.”
Also recently, the attorneys general of Washington,, Oregon, Arizona and Illinois filed their own lawsuit on the West Coast.
It was filed at a federal court in Seattle that is within the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.
The suits are also seeking a preliminary order to block the policy before the Trump administration can take implementation steps.
