President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship declares that infants born to many temporary residents in the United States, not just illegal aliens, will not be automatically granted citizenship, the first for more than 150 years. It is a dramatic denial of rights that were part of the Constitution. year.
If the court does not block this order, babies born to women who are legally but temporarily living in the United States, such as those studying on student visas or workers employed by high-tech companies, will not be eligible for federal protection. Automatically no longer recognized by the government. As a U.S. citizen if the father is also not a permanent resident.
Trump's aides told reporters Monday morning that the order applies to “children of illegal aliens born in the United States.” In fact, the executive order signed by Mr. Trump goes much further than the phrase “protecting the meaning and values of American citizenship.”
David Leopold, director of immigration at law firm UB Greensfelder, said: “This is a shocking attack on the people of this country who come here legally, play by the rules and benefit our country.” . “We're talking about the people who are doing cutting-edge research in the United States, the researchers, and the people who are coming to help us.”
The order was part of a series of actions Trump authorized on Monday to realize his vision of a country with far fewer immigrants. Despite the claims, he reiterated on Monday, “I have no problem with legal immigration. We should accept immigrants.” “I love it,” he said, but the president's new order would also significantly narrow the options for people trying to enter the United States legally.
Many of the president's top aides, including his chief of staff and immigration policy architect Stephen Miller, have taken a hard line on birthright citizenship. During Trump's first term, Miller and other aides pushed to prevent immigrants from establishing so-called “anchors” in the U.S. by automatically becoming U.S. citizens by having babies. did.
In addition to targeting birthright citizenship, Trump on Monday banned asylum for immigrants attempting to cross the southern border and imposed an indefinite suspension of the legal asylum system, which the Biden administration has introduced. The United States ended several legal routes for immigrants and declared the existence of a refugee recognition system. An immigration “invasion” designed to give the federal government broad powers to prevent all kinds of people from entering the country.
how it works
The Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship states that the rights of babies born to noncitizen parents or parents who are not permanent residents with green cards are denied, including if the father is a citizen. If not, it also includes women who are “visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa.” or a lawful permanent resident. In this case, the order states, “No department or agency of the United States government shall issue any document recognizing United States citizenship.”
There are serious questions about how the Trump administration will impose such dramatic policy changes.
Currently, citizenship for babies born in the United States is documented through a two-step process.
First, the state or territory government issues a birth certificate, which confirms when and where you were born. The birth certificate does not contain information about the immigration status of the baby's parents.
Second, if the baby (or the parents on behalf of the child) applies for a passport, a birth certificate showing that the baby was born in the continental United States is sufficient to prove citizenship. No other documents are required.
Within 30 days, all federal agencies will be required to verify the immigration status of parents before issuing documents such as passports, according to Trump's executive order.
However, how this will be implemented remains unclear.
One option would be for state authorities to verify the parents' immigration status and include that information on the birth certificate. That way, when a passport is required, the federal government can determine which babies are automatically eligible for citizenship.
But it could be years before states have systems in place to check the immigration status of all parents, if that's what they want. The federal government may set guidelines for the information required, but how and whether to collect that data from parents when issuing birth certificates could be up to each state. Highly sexual.
Unless states overhaul their birth certificate procedures, the federal government will implement Trump's order by requiring people applying for a passport to present both their birth certificate and their parents' proof of citizenship at birth. They may try to enforce it.
Legal experts say this can be extremely burdensome, especially for people with complex family relationships or who lack legal documents.
Several White House officials did not respond to questions seeking clarification on how the order would be implemented.
Legal scholars and immigration advocates said Tuesday they were surprised by the order's breadth.
Advocates hope a judge will step in and put the order on hold before it takes effect on February 20th. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court in New Hampshire challenging the order Monday night, just hours after it was issued. The president signed it.
And on Tuesday, attorneys general from 22 states and two cities sued Trump to block the executive order. A ruling by either judge could temporarily halt the order, potentially leading to a months-long legal battle that could end up before the Supreme Court.
“It is clear that they are seeking to further their xenophobic anti-immigrant policies, and denying citizenship to children born in the United States must be a core part of their plan,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said. “If we abolish birthright citizenship, we would create a legitimate vehicle for intergenerational prejudice and discrimination that would undermine the very foundations of this grand American experiment. ”
Birthright citizenship in the United States was introduced after the Civil War to give black people citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, shall be nationals of the United States and of the state in which they reside.” Until this amendment was ratified in 1868, even free black men and women could not become citizens.
Trump has argued that his administration has the right to interpret the amendment's authors' intent.
“The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to universally extend citizenship rights to all persons born within the United States,” his executive order said.
Many lawyers say that's simply untrue. ACLU attorneys argued in legal briefs that the meaning of the 14th Amendment has been established law for more than 125 years. They cited an 1898 case called United States v. Wong Kim Ark and said the Supreme Court “categorically rejected last-ditch efforts to violate birthright citizenship.”
“The executive order is certainly unconstitutional,” said ACLU National Legal Director Cecilia Wang. “It is no exaggeration to say that if the courts were to uphold President Trump's birthright citizenship executive order, it would lose all legitimacy in the eyes of the public and in the history books.”
Beyond birthright
The Trump administration has indicated plans to use a variety of tools to restrict people seeking legal entry. Mr. Trump has long supported changes to so-called “public charge” rules that deny prospective immigrants entry to the United States if they are likely to need public services such as food or housing assistance.
The president may also seek to restrict some people's travel rights. In another executive order he signed on Monday, Trump directed officials to compile a list of countries subject to travel bans similar to those he imposed during his first term in office.
