It Begins: 18 States Sue to Block Trump's Birthright Citizenship Ban

The left isn't going away quietly. This was inevitable, and you can bet folding money that the incoming Trump administration has anticipated it — but here we are. Eighteen states and two (so far) smaller jurisdictions are suing to block the Trump administration's new ban on birthright citizenship.

Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia and San Francisco sued in federal court to block Trump’s order.
New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin said Tuesday that 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, period,” he said.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general, 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,” he said. “There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own.”

That's not precisely what the 14th Amendment says — in fact, it's not clear to a layman precisely what the 14th Amendment was meant to do in this matter, as the subject of mass illegal immigration wasn't an issue when the 14th was drafted and ratified. What was an issue was the status of people born in the United States under bondage, and the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause was primarily to codify their status in the post-Civil War United States.

The 14th Amendment's Section 1, the relevant section, reads:

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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The key piece of the 14th Amendment will be the "...and subject to the jurisdiction thereof..." clause. The current interpretation of the 14th to mean that any baby born in the United States is a citizen comes from an 1898 Supreme Court decision, "United States v. Wong Kim Ark," in which a Chinese man born in the United States was determined to be a citizen by location of his birth. There is an argument to be made, though, that "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" could be limited to citizens and legal residents.

Also: Supreme Court decisions have been overturned before.

GAME ON: Trump Takes a Hammer to Birthright Citizenship, Says 'People Have Wanted This For Decades'

This case will certainly go before the Supreme Court, and however it is decided, the case will carry implications that will affect American immigration policy for many years — and if the court finds for the plaintiffs, we should note that ending birthright citizenship will require a constitutional amendment. A lot is riding on this for both sides.

Birthright citizenship is generally not the rule in most of the world, but in the Americas, it seems to be widely accepted; Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and indeed most of the New World seem to have some form or another of birthright citizenship. We should note, though, that most of these countries aren't beset with millions trying to gain illegal entry to take advantage of these policies.

These are the states that have joined in the lawsuit.

In addition to New Jersey and the two cities, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the lawsuit to stop the order.

As always, we'll follow this case and update you as things develop.