The state of Connecticut is filing a lawsuit with an 18-state coalition to challenge President Donald Trump’s executive order that ends automatic citizenship for U.S.-born children of undocumented parents.
According to the executive order, no U.S. government department or agency will recognize the U.S. citizenship of children born to a mother who is in the country illegally or temporarily, and to a father who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is calling the order an attack on the constitutional right of the 14th amendment.
“It would be akin to saying on other fundamental rights, people may have them, it may be ensconced in the Constitution, but they don't apply to you,” Tong said. “Can you imagine if the president stepped out and said, ‘You know what? I understand that free speech is in the First Amendment, but not for you’... That's what they're doing with birthright citizenship.”
The order directly impacts Connecticut families because of the unanswered questions that the order brings about. Namely, Tong said the executive order doesn’t say what immigration status these babies will have.
“Do they have status where their parents came from? Nobody knows,” he said.
A baby born with no immigration status, or uncertain status, will raise red flags for federal immigration officers who are looking for undocumented people, Tong said. As a result, he said the order effectively puts a target on babies’ backs and that of their families.
“So if the baby gets sick, are you going to go to the emergency room and risk exposing your family? Will anybody care for your child because the child has no status? Will you call the police? Will you call 911, if there's an emergency at your house? Will you sign a lease, commit to a year or two to an apartment?” Tong asked hypothetically.
These unanswered questions are why the executive order needs to be challenged in court, Tong said.
The lawsuit also has a strong claim and defense, Tong said, because the order is “unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“The only way to change this language or to admit of a different interpretation is to amend it by ratification of the states. You don't get to paint around the edges. You can't go to Congress to ask them to change it. You can't, by executive order, by fiat, by the stroke of a pen, change the Constitution,” Tong said.
According to the lawsuit, the coalition of states is seeking for the court to declare the executive order unconstitutional and for the court to block the order from being implemented or enforced.
The attorney general of the state of Massachusetts is co-leading the lawsuit with the attorneys general of New Jersey and California. Washington D.C. and the city and county of San Francisco are also part of the coalition, as are all New England states excluding New Hampshire.
The order is set to apply to babies born after February 19.
