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Immigrant Advocates Sue Over Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order


— January 25, 2025

“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in our Constitution and is absolutely central to what America stands for,” said attorney Cody Wofsy, the deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “Denying citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our values as a country.”


Immigrant rights’ activists in New Hampshire have filed a federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship.

Hours after taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order redefining birthright citizenship. If the order is upheld and enforced, birthright citizenship—the practice of conferring citizenship unto all persons born on U.S. soil, irrespective of their parents’ legal status—would be restricted to the children of U.S. citizens and U.S. legal permanent residents.

A coalition of state attorneys general have already filed a multistate lawsuit against the directive; earlier this week, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against its enforcement.

In the New Hampshire lawsuit, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support nonprofit claim that the executive order could render some members of the Indonesian diaspora stateless.

“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in our Constitution and is absolutely central to what America stands for,” said attorney Cody Wofsy, the deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “Denying citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our values as a country.”

Image via Maxpixel. (CCA-BY-0.0)/public domain

In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union emphasized that most contemporary readings of the 14th Amendment to U.S. Constitution interpret its provisions as conferring citizenship to every child born in the United States, with the narrow and specific exception of the children of foreign diplomats.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include a couple who arrived to the United States as refugees from Indonesia in 2023. Their application is currently pending review; however, with a child on the way, the couple fears that their baby could be born as an undocumented immigrant and therefore ineligible to receive certain services.

SangYeob Kim, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties of New Hampshire, said that the enforcement of Trump’s executive order risks the creation of a multigenerational “underclass” of families with limited rights.

“Every child born in the United States should be born with the same rights as every other child—and that’s why the U.S. Constitution ensures that no politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship,” Kim said. “Trump’s executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history, and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the U.S. but who are denied full rights.”

Sources

Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Sue Trump Administration Over Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

NH ACLU, local Indonesian community sue over Trump effort to end birthright citizenship

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