Trump Faces First Lawsuit Over Move to Limit Birthright Citizenship

Immigration groups came out swinging against President Trump on Monday with a lawsuit asking a federal judge to overturn his executive order blocking illegal immigrants and other temporary visitors from obtaining birthright citizenship for their babies born on U.S. soil.

The groups said Mr. Trump is “flouting the Constitution’s dictates” by trying to limit who is covered by the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of automatic citizenship.

“Neither the Constitution nor any federal statute confers any authority on the president to redefine American citizenship,” the groups said in their lawsuit, led by the American Civil Liberties Union and filed in federal district court in New Hampshire.

At issue is the 14th Amendment, which reads: “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.”

Mr. Trump, as part of his flurry of Day One executive actions, said illegal immigrants and those here on legal but temporary passes don’t qualify as “subject to the jurisdiction.” Therefore, he said, the federal government can refuse to recognize children born to them as citizens. (Read more from “Trump Faces First Lawsuit Over Move to Limit Birthright Citizenship” HERE)