Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Faces Immediate Challenges
Four suits filed in federal court this week mark an initial effort by states and advocacy groups to block the order.
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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Less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that purports to end birthright citizenship, several groups of litigants filed suits challenging the lawfulness of the order.
On Monday, Trump issued an executive order stating that U.S. citizenship does not extend to future children born on U.S. soil to parents who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents. The order would even apply to some children born to mothers who are in the country lawfully but temporarily, such as those who are “visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa.”
The broad scope of the order—effectively stripping citizenship status from anyone born on U.S. soil without at least one parent who is either a citizen or lawful permanent resident—bucks decades of legal precedent. Since 1898, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, courts have recognized that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to any individual born on American soil, with narrow exceptions carved out only for babies born to foreign diplomats or invading military forces.
Four suits filed in federal court this week mark an initial effort by states and advocacy groups to block implementation of the order.
The first suit, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire, was brought by a group of civil rights organizations, including the ACLU.
The next day, a coalition of attorneys general from 18 states sued to block the order in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Attorneys general representing four other states—Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois—separately filed suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
A fourth suit, filed in Massachusetts by Lawyers for Civil Rights, identifies one of the plaintiffs as “O. Doe,” an expectant mother whose baby is due in March 2025. According to the complaint, Doe’s expectant child would be “targeted” by the executive order. The complaint states that the baby’s father is not a U.S. citizen and Doe, though lawfully present in the country under Temporary Protected Status, is not a lawful permanent resident.
Each of the four complaints argue that Trump’s order expressly violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship to all individuals born on U.S. soil, subject only to the narrow exceptions identified in Wong Kim Ark. Similarly, the lawsuits each claim that the order contravenes a federal statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a), which contains language mirroring that of the Fourteenth Amendment. The statute provides that “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is a citizen.
More litigation over Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship is expected.
Read the lawsuit filed by the ACLU here or below:
Read the lawsuit filed by 18 state attorneys general here or below:
Read the lawsuit filed by four state attorneys general here or below:
Read the lawsuit filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights here or below:
