Washington President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to abolish birthright citizenship is more than just a divisive anti-immigrant agenda that courts are likely to stop, according to Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
It’s intimate.
Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants are the parents of 51-year-old Democratic Tong, who has been the state’s top lawyer since 2019.
He is the first Asian American elected to statewide office in Connecticut and the first person in his family to be born in the United States.
In one generation, I went from working in the kitchen of our family’s Chinese restaurant to being the attorney general of the state of Connecticut, he said in an interview. I grew up working alongside my parents in that establishment. America is the only place in the world where it occurs.
Trump pledged throughout the campaign to take steps to terminate birthright citizenship on the first day of his second term in office, a move that would undoubtedly face legal challenges.
Tong pledged that I would file the lawsuit first.
Like many in the first Trump administration, he is one of 23 Democratic state attorneys general who are anticipated to regularly oppose Trump on a variety of topics, from abortion and environmental policy to immigration and LGBTQ rights.
Similarly, Republican attorneys general frequently filed lawsuits to thwart President Joe Biden’s programs, winning significant wins on matters like a mandate for businesses to get a COVID vaccine or test and the forgiveness of student loan debt.
Even with a conservative Supreme Court that includes three justices selected by Trump, opponents may have a strong chance of winning the battle for birthright citizenship.
According to the great majority of legal analysts, the 14th Amendment’s provision of birthright citizenship is unquestionably uncontested in court.
According to the amendment, everyone who is born or naturalized in the US and falls under its authority is a US citizen.
The argument that children of undocumented immigrants should not be considered citizens was rejected in a 2006 article by James Ho, a judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who was selected by Trump and is regarded as a potential candidate for the Supreme Court should Trump create a vacancy.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship by birthright. He claimed that children of undocumented people have the same rights as descendants of Mayflower passengers.
Ho, who was born in Taiwan, and his parents emigrated to the United States.
According to Trump, he will issue an executive order guaranteeing that children born to parents without legal status in the United States would not be regarded as citizens of the country.
In a video outlining the proposal last year, Trump stated that a kid would not be eligible for birthright citizenship unless at least one parent was a citizen or lawful resident. The policy would not be applied retroactively, he said.
A request for comment regarding the upcoming measures to thwart his efforts was not answered by a Trump spokesman. The government might instruct federal agencies to stop people from getting Social Security numbers or passports in an attempt to enforce the policy and start a judicial battle.
The offspring of undocumented immigrants are not included in the 14th Amendment’s text that states citizenship is granted to those under US authority, according to proponents of restricting birthright citizenship.
In order to treat migrants more like enemy combatants than migrants, conservatives have accepted the idea of classifying the act of crossing the southern border as an invasion. Conflicts with the Biden administration have resulted from Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s adoption of that strategy.
Trump might use such a statement to support a policy aimed at ending automatic birthright citizenship, which Judge Ho described in post-November remarks that appear to revert to his previous position.
According to him, in the event of an invasion or war, birthright citizenship is definitely nullified.
Calling immigration a type of invasion is a white nationalist viewpoint that is unsupported by the facts, according to Cecillia Wang, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is also preparing to challenge Trump over birthright citizenship and other issues.
She went on to say, “I don’t think anyone’s theory about so-called invasion… should fly in the courts.”
According to Tong, the 14th Amendment would be violated by any restriction on birthright citizenship.
He claimed that it is unclear what the law says and that if Trump’s proposal is implemented, it will become apparent when people’s lives and communities are affected, or worse, destroyed.
He immediately brought up his parents’ story, who fled for their life before arriving in the US and relocating to Connecticut.
Just stop the nonsense and accept that we are Americans. Tong went on to say that everyone is just as American as everyone else. It really goes right to the heart of the 14th Amendment, which is the cornerstone of our constitution.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!