Trump admin stands firm on ending birthright citizenship amid left's legal challenges

President Donald Trump kicked off his second term on Monday by signing several executive actions aimed at addressing the nation's ongoing illegal immigration crisis, including an order to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens.

The executive order, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," argued that "the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States" if those individuals' parents were illegally in the country or not lawful permanent residents at the time of their birth.

'These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the left's resistance.'

Shortly after Trump signed the executive order, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing that the action was unconstitutional.

The ACLU stated that birthright citizenship is protected under the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The organization further cited that the amendment, ratified in 1868, was confirmed in 1898 by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark. The ACLU noted that according to the court's ruling, children born in the U.S. are citizens regardless of their parents' immigration status.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said, "Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it's also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values."

"Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is," Romero continued. "This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans. We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged. The Trump administration's overreach is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail."

The New York Times reported Tuesday that attorneys general from 18 states sued Trump to block the executive order. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., also joined the legal action against the president.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin called the action "a flagrant violation of our Constitution."

Trump's order seeks to clarify the 14th Amendment, stating that it "has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States." Instead, the action asserts that children with noncitizen parents are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S.

The Trump administration anticipated legal challenges concerning the executive order.

Harrison Fields, White House principal deputy press secretary, told Fox News Digital, "Radical leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda."

"These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the left's resistance — and the Trump administration is ready to face them in court," Fields said.

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