SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — “The story of birthright citizenship is as San Francisco as they come,” City Attorney David Chiu declared. On Tuesday, San Francisco and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit to halt President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship.
Trump took advantage of his first day back as President of the United States to issue an executive order that seeks to end the longstanding American immigration policy. The policy makes any child born in the U.S. an automatic citizen, even if their parents did not enter the country legally.
Birthright citizenship stems from the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and 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 president overstepped his authority by a mile,” Bonta said. If Trump succeeds in denying birthright citizenship for newborns, the move would impact more than 24,000 children who are born in California every year, Bonta said.
“This is an attack on children. It’s an attack on U.S. citizens. It’s an attack on our foundational document,” Bonta said.
Birthright citizenship was upheld in a landmark 1898 U.S. Supreme Court case that centered on a San Francisco man, Wong Kim Ark.
Ark was born in San Francisco to immigrant parents. In 1895, he was traveling from China back home when he was denied re-entry at the Port of San Francisco. Officials claimed he was not a citizen and he was subject to the Chinese Exclusion Act. Ark challenged his case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-2 decision, judges ruled in favor of Ark, finding that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment automatically made him a U.S. citizen, and thus, he could not be denied entry into his home country.
If Trump’s order succeeds in striking down a century-old legal precedent, it will cause “chaos and confusion” for families of newborns, according to Chiu.
“Birthright citizenship is as clear cut as legal precedents come,” Chiu said. “The Constitution’s guarantee of this right was affirmed in a 127-year-old Supreme Court case. As a San Franciscan born to immigrant parents, I am determined to ensure the next generation of Americans are not deprived of this constitutional right. It will sow confusion about the legal status of numerous newly-born American citizens.”
The lawsuit names President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the U.S. Social Security Administration as defendants.
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.
It goes on to bar federal agencies from recognizing the citizenship of people in those categories. It takes effect 30 days from Tuesday, on Feb. 19.
New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin also joined the lawsuit. On Tuesday he said presidents might have broad authority but they are not kings. “The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence,” Platkin said.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright, said the lawsuit was personal for him. “The 14th Amendment says what it means, and it means what it says —- if you are born on American soil, you are an American. Period. Full stop,” Tong said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — “The story of birthright citizenship is as San Francisco as they come,” City Attorney David Chiu declared. On Tuesday, San Francisco and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit to halt President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship. Trump took advantage of his first day back as President of the […]
Leave a Reply