MI Sues Trump Over Ending Birthright Citizenship

MICHIGAN — Michigan and 17 other states are challenging President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the order violates a constitutional right that has been in existence for over 150 years. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.

"The executive order undermining the constitutional amendment providing birthright citizenship to those born in our nation is an affront to the U.S. Constitution, and I am working with my colleagues on pursuing the appropriate legal remedy," Nessel said. "While the President has the right to issue executive orders that govern the work of federal agencies, he does not have the unilateral right to take illegal – or in this case, unconstitutional – action against American citizens."

Trump’s order excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; people whose mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents.

This new lawsuit, filed in Massachusetts federal court, seeks a preliminary injunction against the executive order.

Also joining the lawsuit were California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia and the City of San Francisco.

"I filed these suits under the authority of my office, the Michigan Department of Attorney General, on behalf of the People of the State of Michigan and as a constitutional officer of this state who is sworn to protect and defend the rights, liberties and freedoms of Michigan residents," Nessel said. "I will not be initiating or joining in litigation against the President simply for the sake of policy disagreements or politics. However... if the policies of the administration and the federal government, firstly, violate the law and, secondly, inflict specific, concrete harm or injury to the State of Michigan or her residents, I am bound by the oath of my office to take action."

The defendants named in the lawsuit include Trump, the U.S. Department of State and Secretary Marco Rubio, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Acting Secretary Benjamine Huffman, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service and Acting Secretary Dorothy Fink, the U.S. Social Security Administration and Acting Commissioner Michelle King and the United States of America.