As the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday, May 15, defending the nationwide injunction against President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for Caribbean and other immigrants, a coalition of 20 attorneys general says they “stand together” to defend the issue and the rule of law.
“We were proud to stand together to defend birthright citizenship and the rule of law at the US Supreme Court today,” said the coalition in a joint statement. “For 127 years, the law has been clear: if you are born in this country, you are a citizen of the United States.
“Administrations of both parties have consistently respected that right ever since,” the attorneys general added. “As every court to have considered the policy agrees, the President’s attempt to end birthright citizenship is patently unconstitutional.
“The Trump administration’s argument before the Supreme Court today — that the president should be permitted to strip American citizenship from people based solely on the state in which they happen to be born — would upend settled law and produce widespread chaos and disruption,” they continued. “The president cannot rewrite the Constitution and contradict the Supreme Court’s own holdings with the stroke of a pen.”
The attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia joined New York Attorney General Letitia James in defending birthright citizenship for Caribbean and other immigrants.
In January, Caribbean immigrants’ rights advocates sued the Trump administration over its executive order that seeks to strip certain babies born in the United States of their US citizenship.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund filed the case on behalf of organizations with Caribbean and other members whose babies born on US soil will be denied citizenship under the order.
They included New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York, an immigration advocacy group with over 28,000 members of Caribbean and other origins.
The lawsuit charges the Trump administration with flouting the US Constitution’s dictates, congressional intent, and longstanding US Supreme Court precedent.
“Denying citizenship to US-born children is not only unconstitutional; It’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is.
“This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the US who are denied full rights as Americans,” he added. “We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged.
“The Trump administration’s overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail,” Romero continued.
The ACLU said Birthright citizenship is the principle that every baby born in the United States is a US citizen.
It said the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees the citizenship of all children born in the United States, with the extremely narrow exception of children of foreign diplomats, regardless of race, color, or ancestry.
Specifically, the 14th Amendment states that “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.”
The ACLU noted that the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied Black Americans the rights and protections of US citizenship.
In 1898, the US Supreme Court confirmed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that children born in the United States to Caribbean and other immigrant parents were entitled to US citizenship, said the ACLU, adding that “the principle has remained an undisturbed constitutional bedrock for over a century.”
“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in our Constitution and is absolutely central to what America stands for,“ said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney in this case. “Denying citizenship to babies born on US soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our values as a country.”
Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, said, “Birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of our democracy.
“Our members, who come from all over the world, have created vibrant communities, loving families, and built this country over generations,“ he said. “To deny their children the same basic rights as all other children born in the United States is an affront to basic values of fairness, equality, and inclusivity.
“We are grateful for the bravery of our members who have taken on this case, and are prepared to fight alongside them,“ Oshiro continued.
SangYeob Kim, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Hampshire, also said that, “Every child born in the United States should be born with the same rights as every other child, and that’s why the US Constitution ensures that no politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship.
“Trump’s executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the US but who are denied full rights,“ Kim added.
The ACLU said the order will also stigmatize and send a message of exclusion not only to children directly impacted by the order, but to many others who will have their citizenship questioned because of their race or who their parents are.
“Excluding people born here will also create a permanent underclass of those who have never been to another country and may be rendered stateless,“ it added.
Tianna Mays, legal director for the State Democracy Defenders Fund, said Birthright citizenship is “a clear principle of US law.
“Any challenge to this is an attack on the rule of law and the protections of the 14th Amendment,“ she said. “We will firmly oppose any efforts to undermine these fundamental rights.”
James said that she and a coalition of 18 states, as well as the City of San Francisco, are challenging Trump’s Executive Order ending birthright citizenship, in violation of the constitutional right given to all children born in the United States.
James and the coalition filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to stop the President’s “unlawful action, which violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and will harm American children.“
“The great promise of our nation is that everyone born here is a citizen of the United States, able to achieve the American dream,“ James told Caribbean Life. “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.
“Our constitution is not open to reinterpretation by executive order or presidential decree,“ she added. “President Trump’s attempt to undermine the fundamental right to birthright citizenship is not just unconstitutional, it is profoundly dangerous.”
Attorney General James and the coalition seek to invalidate the Executive Order and stop any actions to implement it.
The states requested immediate relief through a Preliminary Injunction filed with the court to prevent the executive order from taking effect.
Attorney General James’ filing notes that the US Supreme Court has twice upheld birthright citizenship, reinforcing it as the law of the land, regardless of the immigration status of the baby’s parents.
“If allowed to stand, the Executive Order would mean, for the first time since the 14th amendment was adopted in 1868, babies born in New York and around the country, who would have been citizens, will no longer be entitled to citizenship under federal law,“ James said.
“These children will be ineligible for a wide range of federal benefits programs,“ she added. “They will be unable to obtain a Social Security number and, as they age, to work lawfully. Their access to health care and critical food benefits will be placed in jeopardy.
“They will lack the right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices,“ the New York Attorney General continued. “Despite the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship, these children will, for the first time since the 14th amendment was adopted, lose their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges.”.
Caribbean-American Democratic U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke also condemned several executive orders issued by Trump, including his decree to end birthright citizenship.
“With a power no president has ever known before, he has precisely spelled out how he plans to govern in the years to come – and that is by decree,“ Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life.
“Among his many despicable commands, he has resurrected old, failed policies like the Muslim Ban and Remain in Mexico, furthered current anti-DEI and anti-fairness practices, withdrew our nation from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, and introduced disturbing new policies like his decree to end birthright citizenship as a constitutionally enshrined protection,“ added Clarke, the newly-elected President of the Congressional Black Caucus.
“I was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, 60 years ago to two Jamaican immigrants. My citizenship is my birthright. If Donald Trump wants to tell me, my family, my neighbors in Brooklyn and across New York and around the United States that our citizenship is illegitimate, and we are not proper Americans, then he should expect to hear from the tens of millions of Americans he just disgraced,“ the U.S. Rep. continued.
“We are witnessing a shameless abuse of power, and I can say with certainty the immigrant community will not stand by as it progresses further,“ Clarke said. “We will not yield to Mr. Trump’s impropriety, illegality, and cruelty. He will not intimidate us.”
