22 US states aim to stop Trump’s order on birthright citizenship

Democratic-led states and civil rights groups, on Tuesday filed three lawsuits challenging US President Donald Trump’s ambition to end birthright citizenship, in the first move by his opponents to stymie his agenda in court.

Following his inauguration on Monday, Republican President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States if neither their mother nor father are US citizens or legal permanent residents.

Twenty-two Democratic-led states, together with the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco, filed two cases in federal courts in Boston and Seattle, alleging that Trump violated the United States Constitution.

Two similar cases were filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, immigrant organizations, and an expectant mother in the hours after Trump signed the executive order, kicking off the first major court fight of his administration.

The lawsuits take aim at a central piece of Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

If allowed to stand, Trump’s order would, for the first time, deny more than 150,000 children born annually in the United States the right to citizenship, said the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.

“President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights,” she said in a statement.

Losing out on citizenship would prevent those individuals from having access to federal programs like Medicaid health insurance and, when they become older, from working lawfully or voting, the states say.

“Today’s immediate lawsuit sends a clear message to the Trump administration that we will stand up for our residents and their basic constitutional rights,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.