
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has a high percentage of popular support to win elections in the Republican Party (GDA via AP Images).
The Trump administration on Friday implored a federal court to leave in place the president’s executive order that would soon end birthright citizenship for individuals born in the U.S. whose parents are not permanent citizens.
The order in question, entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” directs the secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of homeland security, and social security commissioner to cease recognizing citizenship for children whose parents are in the U.S. illegally or in the country on a legal but temporary basis.
Filed only hours after Trump took office for the second time last week, the measure was immediately met with a flurry of lawsuits from every corner of the country asserting that the administration was unilaterally attempting to undermine more than 150 years of established legal precedent.
Among those challenging the administration, five pregnant women and two immigrant advocacy groups filed a suit in Maryland federal court, condemning the order as a “flagrant violation” of the Fourteenth Amendment and Citizenship Clause, “which guarantee the fundamental right to citizenship for all children born in the United States.”
“The President has no unilateral authority to override rights recognized in the Constitution or in federal statutes,” the complaint states. “The principle of birthright citizenship is a foundation of our national democracy, is woven throughout the laws of our nation, and has shaped a shared sense of national belonging for generation after generation of citizens.”