The Trump Administration Is Disappearing Immigrants and Asylum Seekers in Growing Third Country Removal Campaign

Legal Groups That Secured Supreme Court Birthright Victory File New Motions Responding to Latest Executive Order

CONCORD, N.H. — Legal groups that secured a June Supreme Court victory in Trump v. Barbara on behalf of babies who would have been denied citizenship under a failed Trump executive order filed new motions in the case today. The latest filings aim to protect people subjected to the president’s new executive order, which was signed in early August and again targets birthright citizenship.
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund successfully argued the Barbara case.
On Aug. 11, they asked a New Hampshire federal court, where the Barbara lawsuit was first filed, to make it unquestionably clear that the citizenship of babies covered by that class-action lawsuit is protected despite the new executive order. In their new filings, they are asking the court to certify a new class given the latest executive order.
In its June ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause puts “the question of citizenship ‘once and forever [to] rest.’”
The following are comments on today’s filings:
“The Trump administration continues to threaten birthright citizenship, even after its definitive loss at the Supreme Court,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead counsel. “We will never stop fighting to protect this fundamental constitutional principle.”
“The Constitution and the Supreme Court were exceedingly clear: Citizenship is a constitutional right given to all children born in America and any attempt to restrict that right is illegal,” said Amia Trigg, deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund. “Regardless of race, color, or ancestry, birthright citizenship protects children that are born here. And the president’s latest attempt to rescind that protection is just another example of an egregious overreach by the executive branch.”
“Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is yet another attack on the rule of law,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus. “The Trump administration is ignoring the needs of everyday Americans to target immigrant communities. We’re fighting in court to ensure all our rights are protected and stop this administration’s unlawful attempt to ignore the Constitution and Supreme Court.”
“Our latest motions demand accountability for Trump’s dangerous policies,” said Tianna Mays, legal director at Democracy Defenders Fund. “This administration cannot unlawfully strip the rights of babies and ignore the Constitution in order to achieve its political goals. We won’t let that stand, and we’ll continue our fight in court.”
SangYeob Kim, director of the ACLU-NH Immigrants’ Rights Project, said, “Birthright citizenship is the law of the land — as it has been for more than 150 years and as the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed once again just a few months ago. Cruel attacks on this core constitutional right must not be allowed to stand.”
“The president may keep signing unlawful executive orders, but the Supreme Court could not have been more clear when it ruled that neither the president nor Congress can end birthright citizenship,” said ACLU of Maine Executive Director Molly Curren Rowles. “We’ll continue defending the Constitution and the core principles reflected in the 14th Amendment: that with very few clear exceptions, every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.”
“Despite a clear ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court just weeks ago, the Trump administration is still trying to deprive babies born in the United States of their constitutional rights,” said Carol Rose, executive director at the ACLU of Massachusetts. “We cannot tolerate this brazen act of lawlessness. No matter how many times President Trump tries to deny it, birthright citizenship is here to stay.”
Read the motions here.