Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the president’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. A new poll from NPR/Ipsos shows that less than a third of Americans support those efforts, reports Joel Rose of NPR.
In the survey, 28% of respondents supported ending birthright citizenship, while 53% opposed the move. (Send our Q&A to the 17% who are unsure.) The 14th amendment and Supreme Court precedent hold that anyone born in the United States is a citizen.
Pregnant immigrants and their families are awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision anxiously, reports Kristina Cooke of Reuters. If the executive order is considered legal, nearly 150,000 children born annually to foreign parents in the United States would be denied citizenship.
"It’s extremely concerning," one pregnant mother and former activist fleeing persecution in her home country of Nicaragua told Adriana Cardona-Maguigad of WBEZ Chicago. "In my case, I can’t give Nicaraguan citizenship to my son. My son would not have the protection of any other country."
Josh Gerstein of Politico points out that the court could limit its ruling to a procedural question: whether lower-court judges can block federal policies nationwide. One potential result: This executive order, and others, could be implemented in some states but not others. "If there is no nationwide injunction permitted in these cases, chaos would result," said Columbia Law professor Elora Mukherjee.
Welcome to Thursday’s edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s VP of strategic communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Broc Murphy, Clara Villatoro and Becka Wall. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
FLORIDA’S NATIONWIDE PLAN — Immigration experts are raising concerns over a new 37-page plan from Florida officials meant to guide immigration enforcement nationwide, reports Ana Goñi-Lessan of the Tallahassee Democrat. Among other things, the plan pinpoints costs and locations for potential detention centers. Experts say the plan would bypass federal detention standards and undermine federal authority.
STAYING HOME — Immigration enforcement operations in Tennessee are making some workers afraid to go to work, reports Steve Mehling of WSMV. According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants make up 17% of Tennessee’s construction workforce. "They're afraid of the permit office coming by and checking up and then calling ICE," one business owner said. Also at WSMV, Danica Sauter reports that the Diocese of Nashville is encouraging anxious Catholics to put their safety first. Soccer fans are staying home too, as Steve Cavendish of the Nashville Banner reports.
UNACCOMPANIED — The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is assisting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the search for children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border by themselves, in a shift from the agency’s usual mission, report Lomi Kriel and Mica Rosenberg of ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. ORR is sharing data with DHS about children and their sponsors. This change raises concerns among advocates and immigrant families that it serves the ramping up of deportations.
WHO DECIDES — Whether to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is usually a choice for local law enforcement agencies. Now some states are making the decision, reports Tim Henderson of Stateline. States such as Iowa, Tennessee and Texas require local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE, while others such as California and Massachusetts ban compliance. In Dallas, the Community Police Oversight Board is questioning the city’s new police chief after he made a statement on his department’s potential role in immigration enforcement, reports Candace Sweat of NBC-DFW.
P.S. A prayer vigil in Tulsa, Oklahoma, demonstrated "how many people, in this city at least, support the immigrant community as our friends and our neighbors, as people we know and love," the Rev. Chris Moore said. Fox23 News has the story.
