On Tuesday, Oregon became the latest Democratic-led state to sue the Trump administration for its attempts to revoke birthright citizenship nationwide.
Attorney General Dan Rayfield said he and the attorney generals of Arizona, Illinois, and Washington filed a lawsuit to overturn President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for the termination of birthright citizenship, arguing that it infringes on the constitutional rights of all American-born children. Separately, on Tuesday, the District of Columbia, the city of San Francisco, and a coalition of eighteen Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston, claiming that the Trump administration’s attempt to abolish birthright citizenship is a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution.
It is blatantly against the US Constitution for the government to try to circumvent the Fourteenth Amendment. According to Rayfield’s statement, if this order is upheld, it will violate decades of established law that have contributed to the safety and well-being of children. Although the President is fully authorized to issue executive orders while in office, this authority does not include enacting laws that violate our fundamental rights.
Hours after taking office on Monday, Trump signed a number of executive orders, one of which ending birthright citizenship. His pledge to implement a significant crackdown on immigration includes a number of them.
According to the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment, anybody born in the United States is automatically guaranteed birthright citizenship. According to the American Immigration Council, birthright citizenship began in 1898 when the Supreme Court upheld the idea in a case that made it clear that children born in the United States to immigrant parents are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
In a recent interview with reporters, Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center and a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, stated that one of the reasons birthright citizenship is protected by the U.S. Constitution is to ensure that it is not influenced by shifting political tides.
According to her, a constitutional amendment is necessary to alter the interpretation of the Constitution, and an executive order that attempts to do so is clearly unconstitutional.
The complaint aims to nullify the executive order issued by the Trump administration and was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Through a temporary restraining order, the plaintiff states have asked for immediate injunctive relief to stop the executive order from going into effect.
The initiative is being spearheaded by Washington.
Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court may hear cases involving birthright citizenship and other Trump priorities.
— Investigative journalist Yesenia Amaro focuses on communities of color and societal issues. You can contact her at [email protected] or 503-221-4395.
