The Trump administration says it is ready to push back against “the Left’s resistance” in court, after a top civil rights group filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,” Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News Digital.
“These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance – and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court,” he said.
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Trump signed the order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which ends birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants. The order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, which states:”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.”
Some legal scholars and immigration groups argue that the amendment clearly includes those of illegal status, but some conservatives have said that it does not because they are not under the jurisdiction of the U.S.
The American Civil Liberties Union immediately filed a lawsuit “on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order…” and claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent.
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“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional – it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said.
The Trump order argues: “Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”
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But the ACLU argues that “every baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.” It allows for one exception – children of foreign diplomats.
“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 U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans. 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 said.
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The order is one of many Trump signed on Monday related to border security and illegal immigration on his first day in office. Trump also signed an order declaring a national emergency at the border.
Trump also ordered the resumption of border wall construction, the ending of Biden’s parole policies and the designation of international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Other orders suspended refugee resettlement for four months and ended the ability for migrants to claim asylum by creating an immediate removal process without the possibility of asylum.
