WASHINGTON—The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed a brief in two consolidated Massachusetts district court lawsuits on birthright citizenship. The cases are the latest attacks on President Trump’s executive order to strike down a misinterpretation of the Constitution that has served as a catalyst for mass illegal immigration.
Plaintiffs in the first case are an expectant mother in the United States on Temporary Protected Status, and two nonprofit organizations, while Plaintiffs in the second are a group of states led by New Jersey. Plaintiffs’ claim that President Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional on its face, and that children of illegal aliens are guaranteed citizenship in the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that persons born in the United States while “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States are citizens. The question then becomes whether illegal aliens—and certain others present in the United States, such as tourists—are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
IRLI’s brief makes the case for Trump’s executive order. The Supreme Court has clearly held that, to be a citizen at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment, one must be born in the United States to a parent who, at the time, resided with permission in the United States. This rule happens to exclude the children of both illegal aliens (who do not have permission to be in the country) and tourists (who do not “reside” here) from constitutional birthright citizenship.
Thus, the plaintiffs’ claim that President Trump’s order is unconstitutional on its face—that is, would have no valid application in any situation—is wrong: the order correctly denies birthright citizenship to children of illegal aliens, tourists, and others who do not reside with permission in the United States.
“The American people have given a mandate to President’s Trump’s efforts to stop illegal immigration, and the anti-borders activists’ only hope is to flood the courts with baseless lawsuits,” said Dale L. Wilcox, executive director and general counsel of IRLI. “The United States has paid a steep price for this misinterpretation of the law, and the Supreme Court has clarified the application of the Citizenship Clause. These cases should bring further clarity and stop what has been an unsustainable policy.”
The consolidated cases are Doe v. Trump (1:25-cv-10136) and State of New Jersey v. Trump (1:25-cv-10139).
