New Jersey is leading a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order that put limits on birthright citizenship, Attorney General Matt Platkin announced Tuesday afternoon.
Trump signed a slew of executive orders in the hours following his inauguration Monday, including one order to roll back the broad birthright citizenship policy in place since the ratification of the 14th Amendment. Trump, who focused much of his campaign on immigration, promised to challenge the longtime interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which allows anyone born in the U.S. to be a citizen, even those born to tourists or people in the country illegally.
Platkin called the executive order “clearly unconstitutional” while announcing the lawsuit.
“This was a right that was codified in one of the most important amendments ever codified in our nation’s nearly two-and-a-half century history,” Platkin said. “And the president cannot, with the stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence.”
The attorney general said the lawsuit will be joined by 17 other states, as well as D.C. and the city of San Francisco. Platkin said the group is seeking a preliminary injunction from a judge to ensure the order never takes effect. The executive order would take effect 30 days after its Monday signing.
The coalition is suing in the District of Massachusetts, according to the release.
Gov. Phil Murphy praised the lawsuit in a press release Monday, arguing the Constitution is clear about birthright citizenship and that the principle is fundamental to America.
“Yesterday’s announcement about birthright citizenship flouts the Constitution and will needlessly harm families who are lawfully present in the United States until it is inevitably overturned by the courts,” Murphy said. “We will not waver in our efforts to protect the rights of all who call New Jersey home.”
The attorney general argued the legality of birthright citizenship has long been settled and hasn’t been in question since the Civil War.
“The public came together and said in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, one of the first things we’re going to do is say that we can never have this debate again, that descendants of slaves and every other child born on American soil is an American citizen,” he said.
Platkin said that even with a conservative Supreme Court majority, he expects the lawsuit to prevail.
“I think for so-called textualists, the text of this amendment is quite clear,” Platkin said. “And we believe our arguments, which again have been upheld repeatedly by the Supreme Court, are enshrined in the Constitution, have been part of the practices of our nation’s founding.”
Murphy and Platkin have both said they hope to work with Trump when possible but resist his efforts when necessary.
Attempts at collaboration started Monday afternoon when Murphy wrote a letter to Trump asking for his help in dismantling New York City’s congestion pricing policy for vehicles entering Lower Manhattan.
Before Trump took office, Platkin filed a pre-emptive push to protect recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program.
Platkin said Tuesday that he’s monitoring executive orders and law enforcement actions by the Trump administration. He didn’t specify how he might respond to potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in New Jersey
“We already have a lot of cooperation with the federal government,” Platkin said. “We have clear rules of the road. We’ll see what happens, but we’re going to take everything in stride rather than respond to potential hypotheticals.”
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May 3, 2018 -
