The US is amongst the 30 nations where birthright citizenship – the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil” is applied. The citizenship clause says if a person is born on US soil then that person is a citizen of the USA, no matter what is the immigration status of their parents.
On January 20th, after the inaugural ceremony, 47th US president Donald Trump signed a couple of executive orders out of which one was restricting automatic US birthright citizenship. This order focuses on the 14th Amendment which says “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.“
However, Trump’s executive order defines this amendment in a different way. It states that the “privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States.” Children born to the undocumented parents will not be eligible for birthright citizenship. This order will apply to children born after February 19th.
This order was banned by 22 states and two cities. As a result, five lawsuits have been filed by different states and immigrant right groups for restricting the order.
On Thursday, a US federal Judge John Coughenour described the order as “blatantly unconstitutional”. He has blocked the order temporarily for 14 days while the court considers a preliminary injunction.
Trump’s legislative proposal says that people are using this Amendment inappropriately and using it as a way to get US citizenship. This proposal has drawn support from conservative lawmakers who argue that birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration.
After the ruling by a US state judge, President Donald Trump told reporters in his oval office that they will appeal to this decision.
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