President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, a right protected by the U.S. Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court over 125 years ago.
On Monday, Trump issued a series of executive actions to reshape U.S. immigration and border policies, many of which are expected to face significant legal challenges.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is what I’m going to do,” Trump declared in his inaugural address.
CBS News reports that the U.S. government has traditionally interpreted the Constitution to grant citizenship to individuals born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The 14th Amendment 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.”
However, Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to cease issuing passports, citizenship certificates, and other official documents to children born in the U.S. to mothers who are in the country illegally, fathers who are not citizens or legal residents, or mothers who hold temporary visas (with non-citizen or non-permanent resident fathers). The order, which would not apply retroactively, is set to be enforced within 30 days.
Within hours of its issuance, the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups filed a lawsuit challenging the action in federal court.
In addition, Trump invoked extraordinary presidential powers to suspend U.S. asylum laws, claiming that migrants at the southern border were staging an “invasion” that threatens public health.
He authorized officials to “repel, repatriate, or remove” migrants and suspend their entry into the U.S. until he deems the “invasion” at the southern border has ended. This sweeping order effectively allows the U.S. government to halt the enforcement of asylum laws until Trump makes a determination on the situation.
Punch
