MA Sues To Block Trump's Order To End Birthright Citizenship

MASSACHUSETTS - Attorney General Andrea Campbell said that the Commonwealth would be joining 17 other states in suing President Donald Trump's executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

"Birthright citizenship in our country is a guarantee of equality, born out of a collective fight against oppression, slavery and its devastating harms," Campbell said in a press release. "It is a settled right in our Constitution and recognized by the Supreme Court for more than a century."

The suit was filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts.

"The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift," the executive order read. "The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States."

If Trump's executive order is successful, the impact in Massachusetts could be seismic. A report from the American Immigration Council estimated that around 30,100 children who are U.S. citizens live with at least one undocumented parent.

Another report from the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Coalition found that nearly $650 million in state and local tax revenue in 2022 was brought in from immigrants without status.

The lawsuit was brought for by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, New Jersey and California. The following states also joined the coalition: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the City and County of San Francisco.

"President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights," Campbell said. "We will fight against his effort to overturn our Constitution and punish innocent babies born in Massachusetts."