We're back in court defending birthright citizenship from the Trump administration's ongoing attacks. Despite our Supreme Court victory in our class action lawsuit, Trump v. Barbara, the president signed another executive order undermining the 14th Amendment on Thursday, August 6.
At the end of June, the Supreme Court ruled that neither the president nor Congress can end birthright citizenship, blocking a failed Trump executive order from January 2025. This was a major victory for immigrants' rights and all Americans. The principle that all babies born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens is part of the foundation of our nation. It is also a legal principle that has been settled for over 150 years, dating back to Reconstruction in the aftermath of the Civil War. Birthright citizenship demonstrates that we are a nation united by our Constitution and the rule of law, not our family heritage, race, or religion.
However, the president signed a new executive order last week, once again targeting birthright citizenship. The order flies in the face of the Supreme Court’s Barbara decision, which confirmed that the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause puts “the question of citizenship ‘once and forever [to] rest.’”
On August 11, we asked a federal court to make it unquestionably clear that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Barbara applies to the president’s August 6 executive order. Just because the president doesn't like how the Court ruled doesn't mean he can rewrite the 14th Amendment.
Specifically, we're asking the New Hampshire federal court to make it clear that the citizenship of babies covered by our class-action lawsuit is protected despite this new executive order. The motion was filed in the court where our case originated, back when we challenged the illegal executive order Trump signed just hours after taking the oath of office.
In the filing, we argued that the "Supreme Court confirmed that there are no additional exceptions beyond those recognized in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), and the Fourteenth Amendment is not subject to executive (or legislative) revision. President Trump’s continued resistance to that principle calls for this Court’s renewed intervention.”
The motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire by the ACLU of Maine, ACLU, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Massachusetts, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund.
We’ll continue defending the Constitution and the core principles reflected in the 14th Amendment: that with few exceptions, every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.
