(FOX40.COM) — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced his office would be joining 17 other states in suing the federal government over the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for those born in the country.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads in part “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The Trump administration argues that the amendment never applied to those born in the U.S. if neither parent was a U.S. citizen and the mother was in the country unlawfully or lawfully but temporarily, such as on a work visa. The executive order said a person born in such circumstances is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
Bonta and other Attorneys General argue the matter was settled in the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, in which a man was denied reentry to the U.S. after a trip abroad.
The Supreme Court found that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to two parents who were “subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicil and residence in the United States,” was a U.S. citizen.
“The President’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,” Attorney General Bonta said. “As home of Wong Kim Ark, a San Francisco native who fought – successfully – to have his U.S. citizenship recognized, California condemns the President’s attempts to erase history and ignore 125 years of Supreme Court precedent.”
The lawsuit also argues the order violates Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which, similar to the 14th Amendment, grants citizenship to “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
The other states suing the Trump administration over the order include New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
