New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announced today he is leading a challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, which he said violates the constitutional rights to which all children born in the United States are entitled.
“President Trump’s attempt to unilaterally end birthright citizenship is a flagrant violation of our Constitution,” Platkin said at a news conference in Newark this afternoon.
“For more than 150 years, our country has followed the same basic rule: babies who are born in this country are American citizens. New Jersey is a proud state of immigrants, and we benefit tremendously from the contributions of birthright citizens—in our state and across the country.
State Attorneys General have been preparing for illegal actions like this one, and today’s immediate lawsuit sends a clear message to the Trump Administration that we will stand up for our residents and their basic constitutional rights.”
“The Constitution could not be more clear: citizenship of children born in the United States does not depend on the citizenship of their parents. That principle is fundamental to who we are as a nation and what it means to be an American,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “Yesterday’s announcement about birthright citizenship flouts the Constitution and will needlessly harm families who are lawfully present in the United States until it is inevitably overturned by the courts. We will not waver in our efforts to protect the rights of all who call New Jersey home.”
President Trump issued an executive order Monday fulfilling his repeated promise to end birthright citizenship, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
18 states, the District of Columbia and one city are suing in the District of Massachusetts to invalidate the executive order and to enjoin any actions taken to implement it. The states request immediate relief to prevent the President’s Order from taking effect through both a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction.
If allowed to stand, this Order—for the first time since the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868—would mean thousands of babies born each year in New Jersey who otherwise would have been citizens will no longer enjoy the privileges and benefits of citizenship.
The children who are stripped of their United States citizenship lose their most basic rights, and will be forced to live under the threat of deportation. They will lose eligibility for a wide range of federal services and programs. They will lose their ability obtain a Social Security number and, as they age, to work lawfully. And they will lose their right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices. Despite the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship, thousands of children will—for the first time—lose their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges.
In addition to harming hundreds of thousands of residents, the States’ filing explains that today’s order significantly harms the States themselves too. Among other things, this Order will cause the States to lose federal funding to programs that they administer, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and foster care and adoption assistance programs, which all turn at least in part on the immigration status of the resident being served.
States will also be required—on no notice and at their considerable expense—to immediately begin modifying their operation and administration of benefits programs to account for this change, which will impose significant burdens on multiple agencies that operate programs for the benefit of the States’ residents. The States’ filing explains that they should not have to bear these dramatic costs while their case proceeds because the Order is directly inconsistent with the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and two U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
States joining Attorney General Platkin in today’s filing include California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia and the City of San Francisco.
I am so happy these states are doing this because what Trump is doing is against the Constitution. There will be many more lawsuits for other things Trump is doing.
the 14th Amendment was for former slaves. not illegals who come here to have children, to in turn get citizenship themselves.
Happens to be that the reason the democrats are suing is because they have lost so many voters they feel this is the only way to replenish their ranks.
The 14th Amendment was for all people born or naturalized in the United States. It made sure the recently freed slaves and all black people were counted as a full person not 3/5 of a person like they were before this amendment. Just think a couple who come to the US from Italy, Germany, Columbia, Israel and they aren’t US citizens. They work hard, own businesses, good citizens. They have children born in US. Are those children US citizens? Yes, according to the 14th Amendment.
And many of them went thru the channels to become citizens themselves. They didn’t come here looking for handouts.
Trump is talking about those that came here illegally.
As long as you’re happy 😉
Trump is sending the entire family back to where mom came from. Nothing illegal there. He’s not separating anyone. The child can come back as an adult, when they can take care of themselves. We aren’t under the 14th required to take care of all the babies relatives, because said child was born on US soil.
Mr Homan also will find out very quickly that the legal system doesn’t let him violate anybody’s rights.
That privilege, of violating peoples rights is reserved for Democrats.
If we want to make America great again, then we have to get rid of anyone who wasn’t born here. I’m sure everyone in Lakewood has nothing to worry about.
if you aint born here you aint a citizen period!!!
So you agree with the 14th amendment and that Trumps executive order is illegal.
Trumps order is 100% legal.
it was a good move on trumps part! we dont need people coming in from mexico, or any place in the world and give birth to kids here just for the all the money our country gives out with all their benefits… some of these people are not even living in america and still getting benefits because for the few minutes of their birth they were in america. with this new law we are saving an enormous amount of money for real americans!
Adios!
“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.” [14th Amendment]
The meaning of “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is unclear. I looked into what Jonathan Turley (a legal scholar of sterling reputation) has to say about it, and he admits that both the pro- and anti- “birthright citizenship” folks have valid legal arguments.
It comes down to whether person A (the baby who is completely INNOCENT of any wrong doing) can be deprived of citizenship based on the GUILTY action of someone else, person B (the mother who illegally entered the US). In other words: can the guilt of the mother be used to punish the child? And is the denial of citizenship even a “punishment” at all, or just a legal “status” determination? It’s difficult because there’s no obvious as answer.
The federal courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court, will have to make a final determination as to what the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” mean.
The courts have already adjudicated this and it applies to everyone aside from very specific cases
Oh my gosh… so wrong. The only case law on the matter is U.S. v Wong Kim Ark (U.S. Supreme Court, 1898), wherein which the court noted that Ark’s parents were “resident aliens” who had “permanent domicil and residence in the United States.” This is equivalent to having today’s “green card”. In other words, they were LEGAL U.S. immigrants “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
The Wong Kim Ark case had absolutely NOTHING to do with unlawful aliens whose unauthorized border crossings are a felonies (see 8 USC 1325). Whether these ILLEGALS (and note how leftists use the euphemism “undocumented aliens” to hide the fact that they’re law breakers) are included in the category of people “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, has never been addressed by any U.S. court.
Trump didn’t say the baby can’t have citizenship. He would like the law changed. As to the question of separating families, trump won’t be separating them. The child goes back with the family and can return when said child can be independent of it’s parents.
How do Yidden, people trained with natural rachamanus, become so cruel?
Yes, they entered this country illegally. Does that make them subhuman? Can’t we show some kindness? We have no dog in this race, we aren’t suffering from illegal aliens. If anything, we stand to lose if they are deported. Yet so many people are happy to see them hurt. What is wrong with us?
Did you never drive above the speed limit?
The illegal aliens aren’t subhuman at all but they can be human in their own country where they belong.
Do you know how much money the country is spending on supporting these people? And the country’s money is your money. So they need to charge you more money in order to pay for your roads and mail service.
They didn’t let our ancestors in so easily. You needed to have someone in America who would take responsibility for you before they let you in.
kol hameracheim al ha’achzary sofo leheyos achzary al hameracheim!! ask your rebbi what that means…
these immigrants coming in illegal should be deported asap! we support law and order and if theyd like to come here and stay and have us care for them then let them go through the regular legal process like all of our ancestors have done upon arriving to america! its the new liberal wokeness that came up with this unacceptable sympathy for dangerous invaders who are coming in and attacking innocent civilians, bringing drugs in, killing, stealing, and other stuff vehamayvin yavin…
Question is who will clean ur houses?
Or the millions other jobs they do in Ocean County
Those sitting on their stoops doing nothing and collecting freebies.
the legal immigrants like the one who cleans my house! duh! people get it through youre head theres a legal way of doing it! maybe just let me drive around with out getting a license cuz otherwise who will deliver your mail, or drive a schoolbus for your kids etc…