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California seeks to block Trump's birthright citizenship order
California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a news conference on Nov. 15, 2021.
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Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images North America
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Tuesday joined top prosecutors from several other states who are suing President Donald Trump to stop him from ending birthright citizenship, arguing it's a constitutional right.
“The president chose to start his second term by knocking down one of our country’s foundational, long-standing rights and disregarding our nation’s governing document,” Bonta said at a morning news conference.
He added it set “a terrifying tone to set for the rest of his term.”
Trump signed the executive order Monday, the day of his inauguration, seeking to revoke birthright citizenship effective Feb. 19.
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Birthright citizenship allows anyone born on U.S. soil to automatically become a citizen, regardless of their parent’s legal status. Under Trump’s order, people born to undocumented immigrants or to people in the U.S. on a temporary visa would not become citizens.
The lawsuit
In the lawsuit, Bonta joined attorneys general from more than 20 other states, including New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
The city and county of San Francisco and Washington D.C. are part of the lawsuit as well.
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California seeks to block Trump's birthright citizenship order
Bonta is a Democrat, as is each of the attorneys general in those states.
They are seeking an injunction in federal court to block Trump's order.
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Is Trump's order constitutional?
Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, Bonta said at the news conference. He called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” and “unAmerican.”
“I’ll see you in court,” he said referencing the president.
Some legal experts agree that Trump’s executive order likely violates the U.S. Constitution.
Pratheepan Gulasekaram, professor of law at the University of Colorado Boulder, said Tuesday on AirTalk that the legal case against Trump's order is well-established.
“If federal judges are faithful to their oath and complying with over a century of Supreme Court precedent and practice in the United States, they will very quickly reject what this executive order purports to do,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday also sued Trump seeking to block his effort to overturn birthright citizenship.
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