
Attorneys general from 18 states sued yesterday to block President Donald Trump’s move to end a decade sold immigration policy known as birthright citizenship guaranteeing that US-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status.
Trump’s roughly 700- word executive order, issued late Monday, amounts to a fulfilment of something he’s talked about during the presidential campaign.
But whether it succeeds is far from certain amid what is likely to be a lengthy legal battle over the president’s immigration policies. Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the US is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
People, for instance, in the United States on a tourist or other visa or in the country illegally can become the parents of a citizen if their child is born here, reports the Associated Press.
It’s been in place for decades and enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, supporters say. But Trump and allies dispute the reading of the amendment and say there need to be tougher standards on becoming a citizen.