“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.”
14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
One of Donald Trump’s first executive orders yesterday seeks to strip certain U.S.-born babies of citizenship – and we immediately filed a lawsuit to stop him.
Trump’s order not only violates more than a century of Supreme Court precedent, it’s a flagrant attack on immigrant communities and all our constitutional rights.
Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. That’s why we’re taking Donald Trump to court to affirm – yet again – the fundamental truth that every child born in America is an American. It’s a core piece of our Constitution, and is not up for debate.
To deny citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our values as a country.
And here’s the truth, Kendall: Donald Trump knows his attacks on birthright citizenship are unconstitutional. His flimsy justifications for the order are just wrong, and a strong consensus of legal experts from across the legal spectrum has already rejected them.
This order wouldn’t just violate the very core of the 14th Amendment. Denying birthright citizenship would deprive countless people of the basic right to vote, serve on juries, hold certain jobs, and be a full member of American society. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.
Every child in the United States should be born with the same rights as every other child. No politician gets to decide who among those born in our country is “worthy” of citizenship. This executive order would wreak havoc on communities across the entire nation and is a grim repudiation of American values. We won’t let this order stand, and we hope you’ll join us in fighting back as we take this to the courts.
More soon,
Cody Wofsy
Pronouns: He, him, his
Deputy Director of Immigrants’ Rights Project
and lead attorney in this case
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA