Legal Groups That Secured Supreme Court Birthright Victory Move to Protect Babies From Trump's Latest Attacks on Citizenship聽聽
CONCORD, N.H. 鈥 Legal groups that recently won a major Supreme Court victory on behalf of babies who would have been denied citizenship under a failed Trump executive order are asking a court to ensure those children remain protected from the president鈥檚 latest attacks.
The Supreme Court handed the civil rights organizations a resounding win on June 30 in Trump v. Barbara, when it struck down the president鈥檚 order that sought to undo this fundamental constitutional protection. Last week, the president signed a new executive order again targeting birthright citizenship.
The 桃子视频, 桃子视频of New Hampshire, 桃子视频of Maine, 桃子视频of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund successfully argued the Barbara case. Today, they asked a federal court to make it unquestionably clear that the citizenship of babies covered by that class-action lawsuit is protected despite this new executive order.
In its June ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Constitution鈥檚 Citizenship Clause puts 鈥渢he question of citizenship 鈥榦nce and forever [to] rest.鈥欌
In their motion filed today in New Hampshire federal court, where the lawsuit was first filed, the legal groups wrote: 鈥淭he Supreme Court confirmed that there are no additional exceptions beyond those recognized in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), and the Fourteenth Amendment is not subject to executive (or legislative) revision. President Trump鈥檚 continued resistance to that principle calls for this Court鈥檚 renewed intervention.鈥
The following is comment on today鈥檚 filing:
鈥淧resident Trump may not like the fact that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, and he may not like that he lost in the Supreme Court, but that is really beside the point,鈥 said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU鈥檚 Immigrants鈥 Rights Project and lead counsel. 鈥淚t鈥檚 well past time for these illegal and cruel attacks on children鈥檚 citizenship to end.鈥
鈥淭he Supreme Court could not have been more clear: President Trump鈥檚 attempt to redefine who is an American citizen through executive action was unconstitutional,鈥 said Amia Trigg, deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund. 鈥淣ow, the president is trying to double down on his illegal attack on this constitutional protection. We will not stand idly by as the executive branch blatantly ignores the court's authority in its crusade against American children.鈥
鈥淭his order is a desperate and brazen attempt to bypass the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision and expand a very narrow set of exceptions to the 14th Amendment. As the court has already affirmed, it鈥檚 the Constitution, not the president, who determines who is American and who gets a say in our democracy. Americans are struggling to put food on the table and pay their bills, and this administration is just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks,鈥 said Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus. 鈥淚mmigrant communities know that our rights are on the line, especially when the government uses us as scapegoats. The Trump administration already lost once and it will lose again.鈥
鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 latest attempt to chip away at birthright citizenship is as constitutionally futile as it is cruel,鈥 said Norm Eisen, co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen this strategy from this administration before, and the courts have repeatedly made it clear that the 14th Amendment cannot be rewritten by executive fiat. We are filing this motion to ensure that the protections currently shielding our clients remain intact 鈥 we will not let the administration use babies as pawns in a political stunt like this.鈥
SangYeob Kim, director of the ACLU-NH Immigrants鈥 Rights Project, said, 鈥淏irthright citizenship is the law of the land 鈥 period. Cruel attacks on this core constitutional right must not be allowed to stand.鈥
鈥淭he Supreme Court reaffirmed the plain language of the Constitution in June, making it clear that neither the president nor Congress can end birthright citizenship,鈥 said 桃子视频of Maine Executive Director Molly Curren Rowles. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue defending the Constitution and the core principles reflected in the 14th Amendment: that with few exceptions, every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.鈥
鈥淭rump's executive orders are a ham-handed attempt to distract the American people from the Supreme Court鈥檚 clear holding: that birthright citizenship is protected by our Constitution,鈥 said Carol Rose, executive director at the 桃子视频of Massachusetts. 鈥淲e'll stay in court for as long as it takes to secure peace of mind for our clients and ensure that babies born on U.S. soil have their rights as guaranteed under U.S. law.鈥
Read the motion here: /cases/barbara-v-donald-j-trump?document=Motion-to-Clarify-PI#legal-documents
Affiliates: New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts