Eighteen states, joined by San Francisco and the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, calling it an “unlawful attempt” to deny citizenship to hundreds of thousands of U.S.-born children based on their parents’ immigration status. The order, signed shortly after Trump’s inauguration, directs federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to children born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents, including undocumented individuals and those on temporary visas.
The lawsuit argues that Trump is trying to overturn a long-standing constitutional principle enshrined in the 14th Amendment and asserts that he has no authority to alter constitutional law by executive action. It warns that the order could strip citizenship from approximately 150,000 children born each year to noncitizen parents, leaving many stateless and without access to essential services like health care and education.
Four additional states later joined the legal challenge, bringing the total to 22. Attorneys general involved in the lawsuit emphasized that only the Supreme Court can interpret the 14th Amendment and criticized the order as a violation of fundamental constitutional rights.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin condemned the move as an attack on the “very fabric of this nation,” while New York Attorney General Letitia James reaffirmed the historical significance of birthright citizenship as a cornerstone of American justice.
The states are seeking a preliminary injunction to block the order from taking effect, while nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire have also filed separate lawsuits.
