ABOUT 22 states in the United States (US) and civil rights groups have headed to court to challenge President Donald Trump’s bid to cancel birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.
Trump, a Republican sworn in on Monday, January 20, ordered U.S. agencies to refuse to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US by illegal immigrants.
Twenty-two Democratic-led states, along with the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco, on Tuesday filed lawsuits in federal courts in Boston and Seattle claiming Trump violated the U.S. Constitution.
Similarly, the American Civil Liberties Union and some immigrant organisations have filed two similar court cases.
This is the first major legal battle of Trump’s administration, and it’s all about challenging a key part of his immigration crackdown.
The lawsuits say Trump’s order is unfair and goes against the rights of certain people, particularly those born in the US to parents who are not citizens or are in the country temporarily.
According to Massachusetts Attorney General, Andrea Joy Campbell’s office, if Trump’s order is allowed to stand, it would be a historic first – denying citizenship to thousands of kids born in the US yearly.
“President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights,” she said in a statement.
Reports say more lawsuits are expected to be filed by Democratic states and advocacy groups against Trump’s policies, with some cases already underway.
In addition to the executive order on birthright citizenship, Trump also signed 41 other executive orders on Monday, January 20, reversing several policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Some of the orders include pulling the US out of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Paris Climate Agreement, ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, and recognising only two genders – male and female.
The list includes defending women from gender ideology extremism, reinstating the ban on transgender military service, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, among others.
A reporter with the ICIR
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