(Washington)—While evading the constitutional questions underlying the Trump administration’s efforts to pierce the sacred veil of constitutionally-protected birthright citizenship, lawyers for the government argued before the US Supreme Court today that lower courts’ decisions to completely block efforts to undercut birthright citizenship should be limited. Essentially, on Day 1 of this administration, Trump attempted through executive order to undo birthright citizenship, which is enshrined and protected under the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and has been so since 1868. When multiple lower courts blocked the attack on birthright citizenship from taking immediate effect Trump’s lawyers went to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court must not cave to the Trump administration’s efforts to skirt the Constitution and end birthright citizenship, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) said.
Trump signed an unconstitutional executive order to end birthright citizenship, a move that multiple federal judges have blocked as it falls flagrantly outside our country’s legal and constitutional norms. Trump’s efforts to strip birthright citizenship from the Constitution is rooted in racial animus and would cause hundreds of thousands of children born in the United States to be denied the full benefits of U.S. citizenship.
Birthright citizenship is protected under the Constitution and Trump cannot simply change the Constitution, the ILRC said. Ending birthright citizenship would greatly impact the lives of millions of American families, throwing them into legal limbo and uncertainty. This is yet another move by this administration to upend policies and laws with the singular goal of harming immigrant families. Our communities will continue to fight these efforts.
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The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC works to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. Follow us at www.ilrc.org, and @the_ILRC on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok. Also follow us on Bluesky @the-ilrc.bsky.social, and on Facebook.