A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against President Trump’s executive order to terminate birthright citizenship. This decision has been met with approval from Hawai‘i Attorney General Anne Lopez and attorneys general from 13 other states, along with the City of San Francisco.
Attorney General Lopez, alongside her counterparts from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and the City of San Francisco released a statement emphasizing their stance: “President Trump may believe that he is above the law, but today’s preliminary injunction sends a clear message: He is not a king, and he cannot rewrite the Constitution with the stroke of a pen.”
The coalition was prepared to challenge this action since it was announced as part of President Trump’s campaign promises. They filed a lawsuit in the District of Massachusetts to invalidate the executive order and sought immediate relief to prevent its implementation. Judge Leo Sorokin granted this request.
“Birthright citizenship dates back centuries—including to pre-Civil War America,” stated the coalition. The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted post-Civil War to protect citizenship for all children born in the U.S., irrespective of their parents’ immigration status.
The attorneys general warned that if upheld, this order would strip citizenship rights from many children born in Hawai‘i and across America. These children would lose access to federal services and programs and face deportation threats.
Furthermore, they argued that states would suffer significant harm due to potential loss of federal funding for various programs like Medicaid and foster care assistance. States would also incur expenses modifying benefits programs due to changes in resident immigration status requirements.
This case for Hawai‘i was managed by Solicitor General Kalikoʻonālani Fernandes and Special Assistant Dave Day. The lawsuit includes participation from additional states such as Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Wisconsin; as well as Washington D.C., and San Francisco.
