ACLU Lawsuit Targets Trump's Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) late Monday night launched a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its new executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are undocumented or hold temporary visas, such as work, student, or tourist visas.

President Donald Trump's order contradicts the Constitution, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, irrespective of their parents' immigration status.

The ACLU lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire, was filed on behalf of clients whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order. This marks the first of many expected legal challenges Trump may face during his new second term following his early executive actions.

The order, signed by President Trump on Monday, seeks to exclude children of non-permanent residents from automatically receiving U.S. citizenship. Although Trump made similar threats during his first term, he did not implement them.

What Can One Expect From The New Order

The new executive order aims to reverse the 14th Amendment, under which any person born within the territory of the U.S. is an American citizen.

Under the new executive order, babies born 30 days after the effective date will not be U.S. citizens if their mother was living undocumented or temporarily in the country and their father was not a U.S. citizen or resident. However, babies born before the order and children with at least one U.S. citizen or resident parent will retain or be eligible for U.S. citizenship.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution hasn't outlined strict policies on who can be a U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court has even specifically ruled that being born on U.S. soil alone makes you a U.S. citizen, irrespective of your parents' immigration status.

So, arguments are running high that Trump's order is an outright violation of the 14th Amendment.

"Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it's also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.," Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement.

"We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged. The Trump administration's overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail."

A Trump administration official hinted at potential limitations of the order, stating that it would be applied on a "prospective basis," meaning it will only affect people or situations that arise after the order is issued and will not affect people or situations that existed prior to its implementation.

There has been a notable decline in the number of children born to parents in the U.S. without legal status.

According to the Pew Research Center, 1.3 million U.S.-born adults are children of unauthorized immigrants, according to 2022 data, the latest available.

However, immigrant rights advocates worry that Trump's new order could affect the next generation. By 2050, an estimated 4.7 million children could have one or both parents without legal status under current policies, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.