US President Donald Trump’s inauguration week order, seeking to end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the US to someone in the country illegally, caused massive uproar in several states. A federal judge on Wednesday will hear arguments over temporarily pausing Trump’s order. Almost 22 states, including other organisations, have sued to try to stop the executive action. The Trump administration underscores that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore, they should not be “entitled to citizenship.”.
While 22 states in the US, along with Democratic attorneys general, seek to stop the order, 18 Republican attorneys general announced that they will defend the president’s order by joining one of the federal suits brought in New Hampshire.
Notably, the US is one of the 30 countries that allows birthright citizenship, where the principle of jus soli, or “right of the soil,” is applied.
Trump’s order to end Birthright Citizenship is currently on hold
Trump’s order to end Birthright Citizenship is currently on temporary hold nationally because of a separate suit brought by four states in Washington state, where a judge called the order “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Currently, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868, following the Civil War in the US.
The plaintiffs argue in the suit that the principle of birthright citizenship is a “foundation of our national democracy, is woven throughout the laws of our nation, and has shaped a shared sense of national belonging for generation after generation of citizens.”
Trump signs flurry of executive orders
During his first week in office, Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration and issued edicts to carry out promises of mass deportations and border security.
The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 specifies who can receive citizenship by virtue of their birth in the United States, including children born to at least one parent who is either a citizen or national of the US, a lawful permanent resident of the US, or an alien performing active service in the armed forces.
(With inputs from AP)
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