Caribbean immigrants’ rights advocates on Tuesday sued the new Trump administration over its executive order that seeks to strip certain babies born in the United States of their US 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.
They include New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support; League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); and Make the Road New York, an immigration advocacy with over 28,000 members of Caribbean and other origins.
The lawsuit charges the Trump administration with flouting the US Constitution’s dictates, congressional intent and longstanding US Supreme Court precedent.
“Denying citizenship to US-born children is not only unconstitutional; It’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” said Anthony D. 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 continued.
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 that, “Birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of our democracy.
“Our members, who come from all over the world, have created vibrant communities, loving families, and built this country over generations,” he said. “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 continued.
SangYeob Kim, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Hampshire, also said that, “Every child born in the United States should be born with the same rights as every other child, and that’s why the US Constitution ensures that no politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship.
“Trump’s executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the US but who are denied full rights,” Kim 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 to 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.
Tianna Mays, legal director for State Democracy Defenders Fund, said that Birthright citizenship is “a clear principle of US law.
“Any challenge to this is an attack on the rule of law and the protections of the 14th Amendment,” she said. “We will firmly oppose any efforts to undermine these fundamental rights.”
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 Donald Trump’s Executive Order ending birthright citizenship, in violation of the constitutional right given to all children born in the United States.
Attorney General James and the coalition 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 Life. “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,” she added. “President Trump’s attempt to undermine the fundamental right to birthright citizenship is not just unconstitutional, it is profoundly dangerous.
“Today, we are suing to uphold the integrity of the US Constitution and ensure the promise of birthright citizenship remains intact for all who are born here.”
Attorney General James and the coalition are seeking to invalidate the Executive Order and stop any actions taken to implement it.
The states request immediate relief to prevent the Executive Order from taking effect through a Preliminary Injunction filed with the court.
Attorney General James’ filing notes that the US Supreme Court has twice upheld birthright citizenship, reinforcing it as the law of the land, regardless of the immigration status of the baby’s parents.
“If allowed to stand, the Executive Order would mean, for the first time since the 14th amendment was adopted in 1868, babies born in New York and around the country, who would have been citizens, will no longer be entitled to citizenship under federal law,” James said.
Starting February 19, she said 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.
“These children will be ineligible for a wide range of federal benefits programs,” James said. “They will be unable to obtain a Social Security number and, as they age, to work lawfully. Their access to health care and critical food benefits will be placed in jeopardy.
“They will lack the right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices,” she added. “Despite the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship, these children will, for the first time since the 14th amendment was adopted, lose their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges.”
Joining Attorney General James in filing Tuesday’s lawsuit were the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the City of San Francisco.
Caribbean-American Democratic U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke also on Tuesday condemned several executive orders issued by President Trump on his first day in office, including his decree to end birthright citizenship.
“Months ago, Donald Trump promised us he would be a dictator on ‘Day One.’ Having reached ‘Day One,’ and having seen our new president sign numerous executive orders that either override Congress, overrule the courts, or undo the Constitution altogether, it is entirely clear that Mr. Trump has kept his word,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told Caribbean Life.
“With a power no president has ever known before, he has precisely spelled out how he plans to govern in the years to come – and that is by decree,” added Clarke, the newly-elected chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Through his signature alone, Donald Trump has taken executive action that will worsen American lives and worsen America’s standing in our world.
“Among his many despicable commands, he has resurrected old, failed policies like the Muslim Ban and Remain in Mexico, furthered current anti-DEI and anti-fairness practices, withdrew our nation from the Paris Climate Agreement and World Health Organization, and introduced disturbing new policies like his decree to end birthright citizenship as a constitutionally enshrined protection,” Clarke continued.
“I was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn 60 years ago to two Jamaican immigrants. My citizenship is my birthright. If Donald Trump wants to tell me, my family, my neighbors in Brooklyn and across New York and around the United States that our citizenship is illegitimate and we are not proper Americans, then he should expect to hear from the tens of millions of Americans he just disgraced,” the congresswoman said. “We are witnessing a shameless abuse of power, and I can say with certainty the immigrant community will not stand by as it progresses further. We will not yield to Mr. Trump’s impropriety, illegality and cruelty. He will not intimidate us.”
In delivering his second inaugural address on Monday, Trump said he will “sign a series of historic executive orders.
“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It’s all about common sense,” he said in his 30-minute speech from the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington.
“Today, I will first, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” he said. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted. And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
Immigration advocates say many of the migrants crossing the southern border and arriving at major cities, such as New York and Chicago, are nationals of Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
On the campaign trail, Trump had also pledged to deport Haitians living in Springfield, Ohio, falsely claiming that they were eating the pets, including cats and dogs, of their neighbors.
The mayor of Springfield and the governor of Ohio – both Republicans – have repeatedly stated that there was no evidence to support Trump’s claim.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump also said his administration will end the practice of “catching and releasing” Caribbean and other immigrants entering Mexico on their way to the United States, stating that he will “reinstate my remain in Mexico policy.”
In addition, Trump said he will send troops to the southern border “to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
“Under the orders I sign today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations,” he said. “And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to US soil, including our cities and inner cities.
“As commander in chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions,” Trump added. “And that is exactly what I am going to do.
“We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before,” he warned.
