Trump's birthright citizenship order challenged by Democratic states
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President Trump in the Oval Office on Jan. 20. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
More than a dozen Democratic state attorneys general sued President Trump Tuesday over an executive order that attempts to ban birthright citizenship.
Why it matters: The suit follows similar challenges from civil rights groups fighting Trump's attempt to dismantle a right enshrined in the Constitution's 14th Amendment.
- Trump made ending birthright citizenship a key campaign pledge in the 2024 election.
Driving the news: A coalition of 18 Democratic states, as well as the cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Trump and members of his administration.
- The lawsuit called the order a "flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship" and argued Trump has "no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment."
- Filed in Massachusetts federal court, the lawsuit asks the court to block Trump from implementing the order.
- Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois filed a similar lawsuit in Washington federal court.
What they're saying: "This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation's commitment to justice," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release Tuesday.
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the executive order "blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American."
- "Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Axios.
Context: Trump's executive order would end birthright citizenship for children born to noncitizen parents and unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.
- While birthright citizenship has helped expand the country's racial and ethnic makeup, it has fueled the right-wing and racist conspiracy that demographic change would reduce white Americans' political power, known as "white replacement theory," Axios' Russell Contreras writes.
Flashback: Trump has long had his eye on nixing birthright citizenship.
- During his first term, Trump floated the prospect of ending birthright citizenship but didn't follow through.
- He told NBC News' "Meet the Press" last month that he "absolutely" intended to end birthright citizenship on day one.
Go deeper: Trump signs executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a similar lawsuit filed by Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois.
