US President Donald Trump has been sued by immigration advocates following his move to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the country.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order at the White House aimed at ending the longstanding policy of birthright citizenship.
The order, which is set to take effect in 30 days, challenges more than a century of US policy and court interpretations of the Constitution.
According to a Bloomberg report, immigration advocates swiftly filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire on Monday evening, shortly after the order was signed.
During a briefing on Monday, Trump reiterated his commitment to the controversial policy change.
“The federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States. We are also going to enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens,” he said.
Ending birthright citizenship has been a cornerstone of Trump’s Agenda47 policy platform, with the campaign promising to clarify the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
The campaign emphasised that citizenship should apply “only to those both born in AND ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States.”
To defend the policy, the Justice Department will need to convince courts to adopt a narrower interpretation of the Constitution, which some conservative legal scholars advocate.
The legal challenge could potentially reshape the understanding of the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved people. Its Section 1 states: “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.”
While the clause “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” typically excludes children of foreign diplomats, the Supreme Court has consistently affirmed birthright citizenship for children born on US soil, despite numerous challenges over the years, according to the American Immigration Council.
