ONE OF President Trump’s first official acts was to express contempt for the Constitution.
Within hours of his inauguration, he signed an executive order robbing many children of immigrants of their sacred Constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
About 69,000 babies are born in Massachusetts every year, and approximately a third of children under 18 have at least one foreign-born parent. Given the executive order’s sweeping scope, thousands of children born in Massachusetts could be denied US citizenship.
Recognizing the immediate threat to these children and their families, Lawyers for Civil Rights immediately filed suit to block the executive order.
The scope and scale of the executive order is alarming. Federal action could impact the sons and daughters of people with temporary protected status (TPS), many of whom have lived, studied, and worked here for years, some as essential workers and first responders. The executive order also targets the US-born children of asylum-seekers who cannot safely return to their home countries, putting them at risk of statelessness. Additionally, it creates uncertainty for the US-born children of foreign-born doctors, scientists, and engineers in key industries and at major tech companies—individuals who have long contributed to economic innovation and growth.
Without a doubt, the executive order is illegal. It has already been temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Seattle, who called it “blatantly unconstitutional.” A preliminary injunction hearing is also scheduled on February 7 in federal court in Boston.
Trump cannot unilaterally change the Constitution, and the 14th Amendment is crystal clear on birthright citizenship: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
These powerful words, securing the citizenship of all Americans regardless of their race or background, are also enshrined and codified in federal law and have been reaffirmed by over a century of legal precedent.
Yet Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to violate these children’s fundamental benefits, entitlements, and protections. For example, targeted citizens will be denied US passports and Social Security numbers. This is a breach of American law, tradition, custom, and practice.
To be clear, the harm that would be inflicted is immense. As the US Supreme Court has ruled, depriving someone of their citizenship “is a form of punishment more primitive than torture,” amounting to “the total destruction of the individual’s status in organized society.”
The targeted citizens would be deprived of the bundle of rights that comes with American citizenship. They would be forced to live with the fear, uncertainty, shame, and indignities that come with de-Americanization, deportation, and the potential banishment from their homeland. Many would be rendered stateless, particularly the children of war-torn countries, where registering a birth abroad would be nearly impossible. Survivors of persecution are particularly vulnerable. They would be risking their lives by approaching government officials who were responsible for their torture and exile.
The US does not have a centralized national database of citizens, so there’s no comprehensive list of American citizens, making it impossible to implement the executive order without risking the wrongful deportation of our children and neighbors.
The implications extend far beyond children: Adults who have lived in the US for decades—who have built careers, raised families and contributed to American society—could suddenly find their citizenship questioned. This sets a dangerous precedent for stripping rights from other groups in the future.
The stakes are too high to remain silent. We cannot allow this injustice.
Within hours of the executive order being signed, Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit in federal court in Boston to block the implementation of unlawful federal action. We are representing the Brazilian Worker Center and La Colaborativa, two community organizations whose members are affected by the executive order.
Our lawsuit argues that the executive order violates the Constitution and illegally creates second-class citizens. We are not alone in our fight. Attorneys general from nearly two dozen states have also challenged the executive order.
We fought many battles like this during the first Trump administration, and we expect to fight many more still. The barrage of lawlessness from the federal government will be relentless. Now more than ever, it is up to every one of us to push back, defend the rule of law and the Constitution, and support our fellow Americans.
Iván Espinoza-Madrigal is executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights.
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