(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship revocation faced another setback Monday after another federal judge blocked his executive order.
Federal Judge Joseph Laplante issued the temporary injunction Monday, responding to a New Hampshire lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that alleges Trump’s order violates the Constitution.
The citizenship clause found in the 14th amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
That phrase has been interpreted over the last 150 years to guarantee citizenship to any child born in the United States – with a few exceptions – regardless of whether the mother is residing in the country legally.
But the president and Republicans argue the 14th amendment was meant to apply only to American citizens and recently freed slaves, not illegal immigrants and tourists who come to the U.S. explicitly to have children.
As multiple Democrat-led states have sued, Republicans have filed amicus briefs in support of the order.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also defended Trump’s executive order to end universal birthright citizenship, saying the administration believes it is “unconstitutional” for the children of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally to be granted citizenship.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been arresting thousands of migrants nationwide for deportation, The Center Square reported. ICE has been targeting transnational criminals in particular, sending the first batch of Venezuelan gang members to U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on Friday.
Leavitt confirmed that all migrants residing in the U.S. illegally are subject to deportation, regardless of whether or not they have committed additional crimes. If Trump’s birthright citizenship ban takes effect, it is unclear whether children born of illegal immigrants in the U.S. will be subject to the same treatment.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
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