On Tuesday, January 21, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit challenging a new executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States.
The lawsuit filed by 22 states seeks to block the order issued on Monday, January 20, after the second inauguration of President Donald Trump.
The order opposes the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which 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.” The order directs federal agencies to deny the citizenship rights of American-born children whose parents are not lawful residents, according to Bonta. The order goes into effect on February 19, affecting people born on or after the date.
The Quezon City-born American lawyer said, “The president’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and, quite frankly, un-American.”
“We are asking a court to immediately block this order from taking effect and ensure that the rights of American-born children impacted by this order remain in effect while litigation proceeds. The president has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable,” he added.
Bonta furthermore stated that he and other attorneys general seek a nationwide preliminary injunction to prevent the “denial of the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of babies born each year in the U.S.” According to him, the count includes an estimated 24,500 children born in California annually. The order would also “disrupt vitally important public health and other federal benefit programs.”
The executive order ending birthright citizenship in the U.S. is one out of several that Trump signed right after his inauguration on Monday. The states of Massachusetts and New Jersey are co-leading the complaint against the order, joined by 19 other states and the city of San Francisco.
These executive orders he signed include leaving the World Health Organization, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” creating a policy recognizing only two genders, pausing the TikTokTikTokA social media platform for creating, sharing, and discovering short-form videos, featuring music, trends, challenges, and personalized content.Go to TikTok Glossary ban, issuing pardons for participants in the January 6 Capitol riots, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.
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