22 States, Civil Rights Groups Sue to Block Trump鈥檚 Birthright Order
Education and immigration advocates say Trump鈥檚 move to deny citizenship to some U.S.-born infants will do lasting harm to children and schools.

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Updated, Jan. 23
A federal judge in Washington state today President Donald J. Trump鈥檚 three-day-old executive order to end birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, called the order .” He agreed with the four state plaintiffs that it would cause irreparable harm to those denied their right to citizenship, subjected to the risk of deportation and family separation and deprived of federally funded medical care and public benefits that “prevent child poverty and promote child health,” also impacting their education. A separate federal lawsuit is pending in Massachusetts.
鈥 plus San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 鈥 and several civil rights groups are suing to block President Donald J. Trump鈥檚 move to undo birthright citizenship through executive order, a constitutional challenge education leaders say could transform public schools.聽
Trump, who rode a to a second term, argues that to any child whose mother is unlawfully present in the United States or lawfully present on a temporary basis 鈥 such as foreign students 鈥 and whose father is neither a citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.
The move garnered immediate backlash: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868. It 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.”
鈥淚f you lose the protections of birthright citizenship and is overturned or somehow ignored, then I think a lot of families would withdraw their children from school out of fear of deportation,鈥 said immigration advocate and policy expert Timothy Boals, referring to the 1982 Supreme Court case which forbids schools from denying enrollment based on a child鈥檚 or their parents鈥 immigration status.
Conservative forces aligned with the Trump administration have been strategizing an end to Plyler . That potential threat is now being amplified with the affront on birthright citizenship and Tuesday鈥檚 announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are now free to , churches and other once-protected areas. The president has already pledged and a return to .
鈥淲hat that means is more children are denied an education and that’s not good for our society if they end up staying,鈥 said Boals, 鈥渁nd it’s certainly not good for the students wherever they end up going.鈥
Speaking specifically about the ICE enforcement change, Laura Gardner, who founded Immigrant Connections, a consulting group that works with educators, said the policy will create 鈥渋ntense fear鈥 and could negatively impact student attendance and family engagement. It will also be difficult for teachers, whom she said can鈥檛 do their job when children aren鈥檛 in school.
鈥淎s educators, we always remind students and families that schools are a safe space and now we can鈥檛 really guarantee that,鈥 she told 麻豆精品. 鈥淯ltimately, all this is going to do is hurt innocent children.鈥
About lived with an unauthorized immigrant parent in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. About 250,000 babies were born to unauthorized immigrant parents in the United States in 2016, the latest year for which information is available, according to . This represents a 36% decrease from a peak of about 390,000 in 2007.
The president also seeks to prohibit government agencies from issuing documents recognizing an infant鈥檚 citizenship if born under the circumstances he outlined 鈥 or from accepting documents issued by state, local or other authorities acknowledging their citizenship.
The controversial order could go into effect Feb. 19, leaving children born on U.S. soil to non-citizen parents, from that date on, without any legal status. 鈥淭hey will all be deportable and many will be stateless,鈥 according to .
It said Trump has no right to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment, 鈥淣or is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth.鈥
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the groups fighting the move, called it a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values.
鈥淏irthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his 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.鈥
Romero鈥檚 remarks harken back to one of the Supreme Court鈥檚 most reviled rulings: . In that 1857 case, the court ruled that enslaved people, including Dred Scott, were not citizens of the United States and, as a result, could not expect any protection from the federal government or courts, according to the .
The ruling, which pushed the nation toward civil war, was essentially undone by the 13th and 14th amendments.
New York Attorney General Letitia James lambasted Trump for trying to reverse what has been a hallmark of the nation for more than 150 years.
鈥淭his executive order is nothing but an attempt to sow division and fear, but we are prepared to fight back with the full force of the law to uphold the integrity of our Constitution,鈥 she said. 鈥淎s Attorney General, I will always protect the legal rights of immigrants and their families and communities.鈥
If Trump鈥檚 order is implemented, the U.S. would join other nations that do not allow birthright citizenship 鈥 or greatly restrict such protections 鈥 including and Australia.
As of 2022, reported that unauthorized immigrants represented 3.3% of the total U.S. population and 23% of the foreign-born population: Immigrants as a whole comprised 14.3% of the nation鈥檚 population that year, below the record high of 14.8% reached in 1890.
At an inaugural prayer service Tuesday, an Episcopal bishop made to reconsider his views on immigrants and their kids.
鈥… they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors,鈥 the Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde said. 鈥… I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away 鈥︹
The next day Trumpand described Edgar Budde as a 鈥渟o-called Bishop鈥 and a 鈥淩adical Left hard line Trump hater鈥 who was not compelling or smart.
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