New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, a nonprofit based in Dover that represents immigrants in the state, is one of three immigrants’ rights organizations suing President Donald Trump and other government agencies over an executive order signed late Monday that would end birthright citizenship for the children of some immigrants, arguing it’s unconstitutional.
Trump’s order — one of several he signed in the first hours of his second term — directs federal agencies to not issue citizenship documents to babies born to undocumented immigrants or parents with lawful but temporary status, starting Feb. 19.
The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction that would pause the effects of the executive order until the lawsuit makes its way through the court.
More than a century of legal precedence has upheld that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants unrestricted citizenship to every child born in the United States.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, as well as the group’s affiliates in Maine and Massachusetts, are representing the plaintiffs to the lawsuit filed late Monday in the New Hampshire District Court. They argue that the executive order would cut them off from accessing essential social services and essentially render them stateless.
“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed in our Constitution and is absolutely central to what America stands for,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney in this case. “Denying citizenship to babies born on U.S. soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our values as a country.”
Eighteen other states filed a separate lawsuit in Massachusetts District Court including Vermont, Massachuessts, Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Trump’s order focuses on one clause of the 14th Amendment in particular that says that citizenship applies to babies born in the U.S. and “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S.
Until now, that phrase has been interpreted by Congress as applying to all babies born in the United States — with some exceptions for children born in the U.S. to foreign diplomats and a few other cases.
The executive order would affect two members of the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, identified only as “Gail” and “Thomas” in the ACLU complaint. The couple came to the U.S. on tourist visas in 2023 and have a pending application for asylum, but no other current immigration status. Gail is pregnant and has a due date in late February,
Like “Gail” and “Thomas,” the complaint identifies four other members of nonprofits League of United Latin American Citizens and Make the Road New York whose kids will be impacted by the outcome of the suit.
Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, which is also part of the lawsuit, pointed out that the constitutional precedent for birthright citizenship is a 1898 Supreme Court Case involving Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese-American cook from San Francisco. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court confirmed that children born in the United States of noncitizen parents are citizens under the 14th Amendment.
She said the executive order is part of a long history of Anti-Asian history, including the Chinese Exclusion Act, the incarceration of Japanese Americans and the more recent deportations of long settled Southeast Asian families.
“[The executive order] is an egregious attempt to disenfranchise Americans of color,” she said. “And would deny constitutional rights to tens of thousands of families each year, including many Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern families who are seeking safety from violence, who are trying to pursue careers, and who are committed to creating a good life for their loved ones.”
