WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration has taken its fight over birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court, in an effort to narrow the scope of a judicial block imposed on this key element of his hardline approach towards immigration. The move comes as the Republican president continues to push for strict measures to combat what he sees as a growing crisis at the US-Mexico border.
The Justice Department has filed a request asking the Supreme Court to scale back three nationwide injunctions that have been issued against Trump’s executive order. These injunctions, issued by federal courts in Washington state, Massachusetts, and Maryland, have halted the implementation of Trump’s order, which seeks to deny automatic US citizenship to children born in the United States to non-citizen parents.
In its filing, the administration argues that these injunctions should only apply to the plaintiffs who brought the cases and are “actually within the courts’ power.” The Justice Department also highlights the growing trend of “universal injunctions” issued by district courts, stating that this practice has become a major problem since the start of the current administration. The department urges the Supreme Court to intervene and put an end to this trend before it becomes further entrenched.
Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day back in office on January 20, directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of US-born children who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. The order was set to go into effect on February 19, but has been blocked nationwide by multiple federal judges.
The president’s action has sparked a series of lawsuits from various plaintiffs, including 22 Democratic state attorneys general, immigrant rights advocates, and expectant mothers. They argue that Trump’s order violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the United States.
The 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause states that “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.” However, the administration argues that this clause does not extend to immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to those whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas.
This latest request to the Supreme Court marks the administration’s continued efforts to defend Trump’s actions. With a 6-3 conservative majority on the bench, which includes three justices appointed by Trump himself, the administration is hopeful that the court will rule in their favor.
Trump’s push to restrict birthright citizenship is just one aspect of his broader immigration and border crackdown. He has also tasked the US military with aiding border security and issued a broad ban on asylum. However, the judges who have ruled against Trump’s order have found it to be in direct conflict with the Constitution.
The administration has pointed to an 1898 Supreme Court ruling in the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship to children born in the United States to non-citizen parents. However, the Justice Department argues that the court’s ruling in that case was narrower, only applying to children whose parents had a “permanent domicile and residence in the United States.”
As the legal battle over birthright citizenship continues, it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will ultimately rule on this controversial issue. But for now, the Trump administration is determined to defend its actions and push forward with its agenda to tighten immigration policies and secure the US-Mexico border.
