Official announcements by state attorney generals or legal filings

Trump's Bid to End Birthright Citizenship Blocked by Judge After Challenge by 22 States

Jan 25, 2025, 02:59 PM

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, a constitutional right guaranteed to everyone born in the United States. This move, which would overturn more than a century of legal precedent, has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge following a legal challenge by 22 states. Trump's order seeks to eliminate the automatic granting of citizenship to children born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' immigration status. The Justice Department has defended the order in court by drawing analogies to historical cases involving Native Americans and enslaved people, arguing that birth in the U.S. alone does not automatically confer citizenship. Critics, including legal scholars, have dismissed these analogies as flawed and motivated by xenophobia. The order has sparked concerns among immigrants, particularly in the Indian-American community, with some rushing to secure alternative paths to citizenship, such as the EB-5 visa program, which offers permanent residency through investment.