(SEATTLE) — A federal judge issued a temporary injunction on Thursday against President Trump’s executive order revoking the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, irrespective of parental immigration status.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour sided with Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon, which argued that the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court precedent firmly establish birthright citizenship.
This case is one of five lawsuits filed nationwide by 22 states and various immigrant rights organizations. The suits include personal accounts from U.S. citizen attorneys general and pregnant women fearing their children will be denied citizenship.
The order, signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, is set to take effect February 19 and could affect hundreds of thousands born in the U.S., according to one lawsuit. In 2022, approximately 255,000 children born to one undocumented parent and about 153,000 to two undocumented parents became citizens, according to the Seattle lawsuit.
The U.S. is among approximately 30 countries that grant birthright citizenship (jus soli, or “right of the soil”). Most are in the Americas; Canada and Mexico are examples.
The lawsuits contend that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to those born and naturalized in the U.S., a view states have held for over a century.
Ratified in 1868 post-Civil War, the amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order claims that children of non-citizens are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction and instructs federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children without at least one citizen parent.
The 1898 Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case, involving a child of Chinese immigrants born in San Francisco, established birthright citizenship. The government attempted to deny his reentry after a trip abroad, citing the Chinese Exclusion Act.
However, some immigration restriction advocates argue that Wong Kim Ark clearly applies only to children of legal immigrants, leaving the application to children of undocumented parents less clear.
Trump’s executive order prompted attorneys general to highlight their personal connection to birthright citizenship. For example, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general and a birthright citizen, described the lawsuit as deeply personal.
“There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own,” Tong stated this week.
One lawsuit includes the case of “Carmen,” a non-citizen residing in the U.S. for over 15 years with a pending visa application for permanent residency.
“Stripping children of the ‘priceless treasure’ of citizenship is a grave injury,” the suit asserts. “It denies them the full membership in U.S. society to which they are entitled.”