Just two days after President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting sanctuary cities across the country, two dozen Democratic-led states have filed legal challenges, claiming the order falls “far outside the legal bounds of the President’s authority.”
Beginning next month, Trump’s executive order mandates that federal agencies stop issuing citizenship documents to U.S.-born children of undocumented mothers or mothers in the country on temporary visas if the father is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Presidents can’t overrule the Constitution and centuries of precedent with a stroke of a pen.
— Attorney General Matt Platkin (@NewJerseyOAG) January 21, 2025
I'm leading a coalition of 18 states in suing to stop Trump's unlawful EO banning birthright citizenship.
When we say we will fight for the rule of law, we mean it. pic.twitter.com/arwPZ2IRS5
The democratic states that filed the first lawsuit against Trump are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
“Despite a President’s broad powers to set immigration policy, however, the Citizenship Stripping Order falls far outside the legal bounds of the President’s authority,” the reads in part.
Hours later, Illinois, Arizona, Washington and Oregon filed their own in Washington state.
“We need to discuss bipartisan commonsense immigration reforms, but denying birthright citizenship, which dates back centuries and has been upheld twice by the U.S. Supreme Court, is not the solution,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.
My office and a multistate coalition are suing to immediately stop President Trump's dangerous and unconstitutional order trying to end birthright citizenship.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 21, 2025
We will protect the integrity of our Constitution, its fundamental rights, and the promise of the American dream.
The 14th Amendment, a cornerstone of American identity since its ratification in 1868 post-Civil War, declares that anyone born or naturalized in the United States is, by right, a citizen. “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.”
Still, Trump’s administration appears to show little regard for the Constitution, going as far as to remove it from the official White House website.
“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. 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 U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans. 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,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
#BREAKING: We’re suing President Trump over his unconstitutional, un-American executive order ending birthright citizenship.
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) January 21, 2025
The President has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable.https://t.co/0nG4UHOyqM pic.twitter.com/linsgq4fCr
Both lawsuits are calling for swift action, urging the courts to issue a preliminary block on the policy before the Trump administration can set its plans into motion.
