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On the first day of his second term as president, Donald Trump signed a series of decrees and in particularthe immigration environment captured the spotlight, after one of those decrees, called “Protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship,” aims to redefine birthright citizenship, the process that guarantees all born In the United States you automatically obtain citizenship, but this is not the case for the children of immigrants.

Given the controversial decision, a group of Democratic Party governors took one of the measures applied by the president to court on his first day, but they were not the only ones to raise their voices, as five pregnant mothers and the organizations CASA and the Project of Asylum Seekers (ASAP) filed a lawsuit in response to the issuance of the Executive Order.

Through a joint statement, The lawsuit charges that it is intended to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship explicitly provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment.

That lawsuit was filed in the District of Maryland and is being litigated by ASAP, CASA, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown Law School.

What does the order signed by Trump say?

As detailed by the White House itself, “The 14th Amendment has never been interpreted as a universal extension of citizenship to all persons born in the United States… has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but (who) are not ‘subject to its jurisdiction.'”

In that sense, The Federal Government establishes that children of undocumented immigrants are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and, therefore, should not be considered citizens.

Demands from the womb

“When I fled persecution in my country, I found a new home in the United States and I am proud of the life my husband and I have built in this country over the past six years,” said Monica, a pregnant mother and ASAP member. , asylum seeker and plaintiff named in the lawsuit.

“I am shocked that the government does not want my American-born son to have American citizenship. I am afraid for my son and for our family, especially since we cannot return to our country or get our son another citizenship; “I don’t know what we will do,” he continued.

Another plaintiff is Maribel, a member of CASA who has lived in the United States for almost two decades. She has two children who were born in this country and today she is pregnant again, she shared: “I am afraid that my unborn child will be denied the basic rights that my other children enjoy, including access to healthcare and quality education. Without the protections of American citizenship, the Trump administration could even try to take my baby from me and our family and deport them to a country they have never known. “It is deeply wrong to subject a newborn baby to such cruelty.”

“This Executive Order undermines the very essence of our democracy and represents a direct attack on the constitution. By attempting to deny U.S. citizenship to children born within our borders based solely on their parents’ immigration status, President Trump is attempting to upend centuries of history and legal protections established through executive orders. This cannot be tolerated,” said Nicholas Katz, General Counsel of the CASA organization.

“CASA is committed to protecting our members and defending their rights, while continuing to fight for a fair and equitable immigration system, based on dignity and respect for all people,” he said.

“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and has been recognized by the Supreme Court as the law of the land for more than 100 years.”said Rupa Bhattacharyya, Legal Director of ICAP. “The President of the United States does not have the power to amend the Constitution with the stroke of a pen in an Executive Order. “We are confident that the Court will correct this overreach and ensure that all babies born in the United States receive their rightful citizenship and all the privileges and benefits that flow from it.”

“This executive order has created chaos and confusion in immigrant communities and among our members, as many asylum seekers wonder if their American-born children will have to apply for asylum,” said Swapna Reddy, co-executive director of ASAP.

“Our members, like so many other immigrant parents in the United States right now, are afraid: afraid that their children will not be able to live a stable life without fear and afraid that their children do not belong in the only country they have ever known. “More than 150 years ago, Black people worked together to ensure a more equal right to American citizenship, and now we are proud to defend this right for our members, more than 90,000 of whom are Black,” he said.

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