New Mexico and 17 other states are suing Trump to block his order limiting citizenship for U.S.-born children
Santa Fe: So, here’s the scoop. New Mexico’s attorney general, along with 17 other states, is taking President Trump to court. They want to stop his new executive order that messes with citizenship for kids born in the U.S.
Trump’s order, which is about 700 words long, claims that not every child born here automatically gets citizenship. This goes against a long-standing rule known as birthright citizenship.
The lawsuit argues that this order is unconstitutional. It’s trying to take away citizenship from many American-born kids just because of their parents’ immigration status.
Birthright citizenship is part of the 14th Amendment, which says anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen. This amendment was put in place back in 1868 to ensure that African Americans were recognized as citizens.
According to Trump’s order, kids born to moms who aren’t in the U.S. legally won’t get citizenship. The same goes for kids whose dads aren’t U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
It also affects kids whose moms are here legally but only on temporary visas, like work or student visas, if their dads aren’t citizens or permanent residents.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez made it clear that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, not something that can be taken away on a whim.
In total, 18 states, plus Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, have filed this lawsuit in federal court to challenge the order.
Four other states—Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington—are also filing their own lawsuits against Trump’s order.
Torrez stated that this executive order is a direct attack on the Constitution and the rights of every child born in America.
The order would only apply to kids born in the U.S. after 30 days from when it was issued, which means starting February 19.
The lawsuit warns that if this order is allowed to go through, kids born after that date could end up without any legal status. They could be deported and might even be stateless.
It’s still unclear how many kids born in New Mexico would be affected by this order.
About 9% of New Mexico’s residents are foreign-born, and around 5.9% of U.S.-born kids lived with at least one immigrant parent in 2022, according to the American Immigration Council.
They estimate that around 113,000 U.S.-born kids in New Mexico lived with at least one immigrant parent last year, including about 27,000 who had at least one undocumented parent.
The lawsuit aims to invalidate the order and stop any actions to enforce it.
It argues that the President can’t just change or ignore a constitutional amendment or a law with a simple signature.
Trump’s order claims that the 14th Amendment has never been interpreted to give citizenship to everyone born in the U.S.
New Jersey’s Attorney General Matt Platkin chimed in, saying that while presidents have a lot of power, they aren’t kings.
He emphasized that the president can’t just erase the 14th Amendment with a pen.
Along with New Mexico and the two cities, a bunch of other states like New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and more are joining the fight against this order.
