In Massachusetts, a group of Democratic attorneys general filed a lawsuit Tuesday in an effort to stop President Donald Trump’s plan to remove the automatic birthright citizenship.
Trump reportedly signed an executive order on Monday that would restrict birthright citizenship to those who have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
Not only do the 19 Democratic attorneys general—including those from New Jersey, California, New York, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia—strongly oppose the proposal, but civil rights organizations have also launched their own lawsuit, making it an uphill struggle.
Trump’s proposal is described in the current lawsuit as a “flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands [of] American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.”
It has long been acknowledged that, with the exception of diplomats’ children, everyone born in the United States is entitled to birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
According to the amendment, everyone born or naturalized in the United States and falling under its authority is a citizen of the country.
Courts have plenty of time to block Trump’s proposal before it takes effect, which isn’t for another month.
The case was brought in Massachusetts federal court, which is under the purview of an appeals court with a preponderance of justices selected by Democrats.