January 22, 2025
With a stroke of his pen – President Trump signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship.
On his first night in office – Trump signed the protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship executive order. It says the new policy of the United States is that no department or agency “shall issue documents recognizing united states citizenship, or accept documents issued by state, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize united states citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the united states and the person’s father was not a united states citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the united states was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a united states citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”
Basically this order says if you are born in this country to parents who are not here legally or born to a mother whose presence was lawful but temporary and a father who is not here legally, you do not get US citizenship. And if your state issues you some kind of government birth document and your parents fall into either of those categories, the federal government will not accept it. This policy –according to the order would apply to any person born within the United States starting after February 20th.
Now – let’s back up for a second.
We have the 14th amendment in this country and section one says: 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.
That is the amendment that established this birthright citizenship. And it’s been around for more than 150 years. Obviously — no presidential executive order can overturn an amendment to the United States constitution. But trump’s order attempts to pick it apart…by focusing on the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction there of.” His order suggests children of non-citizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore are not covered under the 14th amendment.
Well – not surprising — less than 24 hours after this order was issued, — attorneys general from 22 states sued Trump in the federal district courts of Massachusetts and Washington. Basically saying WTF. They actually said in the lawsuit filed in the us district court in Washington, “the president has no authority to amend the constitution or supersede the citizenship clause’s grant of citizenship to individuals born in the United States. Nor is he empowered by any other constitutional provision or law to determine who shall or shall not be granted united states citizenship at birth.” And in this lawsuit in the federal court in Massachusetts “the principle of birthright citizenship has been enshrined in the constitution for more than 150 years. The citizenship clause of the fourteenth amendment unambiguously and expressly confers citizenship on “[a]ll persons born” in and “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.” The suit goes on to say the supreme court and congress have backed this up. More than 125 years ago the supreme court ruled that the 14th amendment does entitle a child to automatic citizenship even if the parents of that child are noncitizens. And then congress codified that understanding in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.
To change the United States constitution – you would need two thirds of both the House and the Senate to propose an amendment or two-thirds of the state legislatures to ask congress to call a national convention to propose amendments and then it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states. That’s a heavy lift.
President Trump knew by signing this executive order he was welcoming a legal fight. But it’s a fight he told his supporters on the campaign trial that he was going to take on. And he is clearly hoping along the way that some federal court or maybe even the supreme court will buy his interpretation of the 14th amendment or rethink the precedent that has been around for more than 100 years. We’ll have to wait and see.
Read the Executive order here.
Read the lawsuit here.
Read the lawsuit here.
