RI AG Sues Trump Over Ending Birthright Citizenship

NEW JERSEY — Rhode Island and 17 other states are challenging President Donald Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States.

Attorney General Peter Neronha has signed onto a lawsuit that seeks to block Trump's order from taking effect, saying it 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.

"On day one, President Trump moved to use executive power to effectively amend the [U.S.] Constitution in an unprecedented, but not unexpected manner," Neronha said. "With the exception of indigenous peoples and the descendants of enslaved peoples, the United States is a nation of descendants of immigrants, many of whom risked their lives for the promise of a better life. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees that no matter your family’s country of origin, if you are born here, this is your home, this is your country. With this executive order, the president seeks to deny citizenship to Americans who would lawfully reside here, pay taxes here, raise their families here, and contribute to the extraordinary fabric of this country."

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.

"If allowed, this executive order will have far-reaching economic, social, and human rights ramifications, the full extent of which we can’t know," Neronha said. "Now is the time to come together as Americans and protect our fellow citizens, regardless of our differences, and because of our differences. In the meantime, we will work tirelessly to defend birthright citizenship, as enshrined by the Constitution."

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

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