By Andy O’Brien
“Every court to have looked at this cruel order agrees that it is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court’s decision did not remotely suggest otherwise, and we are fighting to make sure President Trump cannot trample on the citizenship rights of a single child.”- Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine is among 22 states and organizations that have filed a new nationwide class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s January 20 executive order restricting birthright citizenship.
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Birthright citizenship is the principle set forth in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th amendment that every baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.
The case was filed on behalf of a class of babies subject to the executive order, and their parents. The move was in response to a June 27 ruling by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority that lower court judges do not have authority to override federal policies. The 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court is seen as a victory for President Trump, who has complained that lower court injunctions have been obstacles to enacting his agenda.
The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on whether the Executive Order is constitutional, only that lower court judges can’t issue injunctions on federal policy. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that in October the Supreme Court will rule on whether to end birthright citizenship.
At the White House on June 27, Trump called the Supreme Court ruling a “giant win” over the “birthright citizenship hoax” that will prevent “scamming of our immigration process.”
Molly Curren Rowles, executive director of the ACLU of Maine, said in a statement, “The constitutional principles that form the foundation of freedom in this country have always been challenging, complex, and multifaceted. The president’s executive order violates the plain language of the 14th Amendment and flouts fundamental American values.”
Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, one of the organizations participating in the nationwide class-action lawsuit, said, “This executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the U.S. but who are denied full rights. No politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship — and we will keep fighting to ensure that every child born in the United States has their right to citizenship protected.”
Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, vowed to fight for birthright citizenship. “For more than 125 years, birthright citizenship has made the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. The Trump administration wants to end that right and create a permanent subclass with no vote, no voice, and no due process protection. We simply won’t let that happen, and are using every tool in our toolkit to defend birthright citizenship.”
