US District Judge John Coughenour has scheduled the hearing following a request from Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. The case is part of five lawsuits filed by 22 states and several immigrants’ rights groups across the country.
The lawsuits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are US citizens by birthright and pregnant women concerned their children may not obtain citizenship. One such plaintiff is "Carmen," a non-citizen who has lived in the US for more than 15 years with a pending visa application that could lead to permanent residency.
The order, signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, is slated to take effect on February 19. According to one lawsuit, it could impact hundreds of thousands of individuals, including the approximately 255,000 births in 2022 to citizen children of mothers living in the country illegally and 153,000 births to two undocumented parents.
The US is one of about 30 countries applying birthright citizenship, or the principle of jus soli (“right of the soil”). The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees citizenship to all born or naturalized in the country. Ratified in 1868, the amendment states:
"All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Trump’s order contends that children of non-citizens are not subject to US jurisdiction and directs federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children without at least one US citizen parent.
A landmark case on birthright citizenship, United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), ruled that Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a US citizen. Advocates of immigration restrictions argue this case applies only to children of legal immigrants and does not address those born to undocumented parents.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a birthright citizen and the first Chinese American elected to his position, criticized the order as deeply personal, saying: "There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. Trump’s stance will inflict serious harm on American families like my own." The lawsuit asserts that denying citizenship strips children of a “priceless treasure,” depriving them of full societal membership.
