Trump Administration Faces Lawsuit on Day 1 Over Order to End Birthright Citizenship

The executive order, signed Monday night, mandates federal agencies to decline recognition of US citizenship to children born in America to parents illegally present or holding temporary visas unless one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to end the birthright citizenship in the United States, a coalition of civil rights and immigration groups filed a lawsuit challenging the move, thereby setting the stage for a major legal battle.

The executive order, signed Monday night, mandates federal agencies to decline recognition of US citizenship to children born in America to parents illegally present or holding temporary visas unless one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

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This will state that children, under these conditions, are not eligible for US citizenship, inclusive of passports, for the next 30 days from the signing date.

The order, contrary to a settled legal understanding of more than a century that the Constitution's 14th Amendment secures birthright citizenship, sparked immediate criticism.

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The American Civil Liberties Union and several of its state affiliates along with other organizations filed a 17-page complaint in federal court in New Hampshire on behalf of immigration rights groups, who say the order is unconstitutional and unlawful.

For plaintiffs — organizations whose members are affected by the order — and for families across the country, this order aims to rob from their children the 'priceless treasure' of citizenship, threatening them with a lifetime of exclusion and fear of deportation from the only country they have ever known," the lawsuit says.

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"But that is illegal. The Constitution and Congress — not President Trump — dictate who is entitled to full membership in American society."

The case asks the court to declare the executive order unlawful and impose both temporary and permanent injunctions blocking its enforcement.

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This argument goes by the name of Trump's order, which is that the federal government shall not "issue documents acknowledging United States citizenship" to children born on US soil whose parents are unlawfully or temporarily in the country. It specifically states that it will apply to children born 30 days after the order's signing.

The ACLU’s lawsuit warns that the order could render affected children stateless and create widespread fear and uncertainty. Attorneys for the coalition pointed out that some of the immigration groups’ members are currently expecting children who could be impacted by the order.

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The move is within Trump's agenda on immigration policy but will most likely hit high legal hurdles; the 14th Amendment declares, "All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

This battle over this order is predicted to be more escalated into high courts and will eventually reach the Supreme Court.

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