Caribbean immigrants’ rights advocates have filed a lawsuit against the Donald Trump administration over his executive order that seeks to strip babies born in the United States (US) of their citizenship.
The case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Legal Defense Fund on behalf of organizations with Caribbean and other members whose babies born on US soil will be denied citizenship under the order.
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“Denying citizenship to US-born children is not only unconstitutional; it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the US who are denied full rights as Americans,” he added.
“We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged.
The Trump administration’s overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail,” Romero said.
The ACLU said Birthright citizenship is the principle that every baby born in the United States is a US citizen. It said the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees the citizenship of all children born in the United States — with the extremely narrow exception of children of foreign diplomats — regardless of race, color or ancestry.
Specifically, the 14th Amendment 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”.
The ACLU noted that the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied Black Americans the rights and protections of US citizenship.
In 1898, the US Supreme Court confirmed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that children born in the United States to Caribbean and other immigrant parents were entitled to US citizenship, said the ACLU, adding that “the principle has remained an undisturbed constitutional bedrock for over a century”.
“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in our constitution and is absolutely central to what America stands for,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney in this case.
“Denying citizenship to babies born on US soil is illegal, profoundly cruel and contrary to our values as a country.”
Theo Oshiro, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, said: “Birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of our democracy.”
“Our members, who come from all over the world, have created vibrant communities, and loving families, and built this country over generations. To deny their children the same basic rights as all other children born in the United States is an affront to basic values of fairness, equality, and inclusivity.
“We are grateful for the bravery of our members who have taken on this case, and are prepared to fight alongside them,” Oshiro added.
The ACLU said the order will also stigmatize and send a message of exclusion not only to children directly impacted by the order but many others who will have their citizenship questioned because of their race or who their parents are.
“Excluding people born here will also create a permanent underclass of those who have never been to another country and may be rendered stateless,” it added.
On Tuesday, New York Attorney General, Letitia James said that she and a coalition of 18 states, as well as the City of San Francisco, are challenging President Trump’s executive order.
They have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to stop the president’s “unlawful action, which violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution and will harm American children.
“The great promise of our nation is that everyone born here is a citizen of the United States, able to achieve the American dream,” James told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). “This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice.”
“Our constitution is not open to reinterpretation by executive order or presidential decree. President Trump’s attempt to undermine the fundamental right to birthright citizenship is not just unconstitutional, it is profoundly dangerous,” she said, adding that the action is being taken to uphold the integrity of the US Constitution.
James said that starting February 19, babies born to parents who are lawfully in the US on certain visas or are undocumented will be denied their most basic rights and forced to grow up under the threat of deportation. (CMC)
