California Attorney General Joins Coalition to Challenge Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Directive

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, along with more than a dozen state attorneys general, is contesting the constitutionality of an executive order—issued by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term—that redefines birthright citizenship. 

The order—scheduled to go into effect on February 19—commands all agencies not to issue citizenship credentials for individuals whose mothers were not lawfully present in the country or whose fathers were not citizens or lawful permanent residents. It also applies to scenarios where a father is in a similar predicament and the mother’s stay is only temporary. 

Consequently, the Social Security Administration and the State Department will cease issuing Social Security cards and passports to individuals who do not meet citizenship eligibility under the new regulations. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom provided a succinct three-word reaction following Trump’s announcement of the action. 

Those opposing the executive order argue that it contravenes the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and cite a Supreme Court ruling from 1898, U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark, as precedent for blocking the law before it is implemented.

In that case, the ruling established that the Citizenship Clause in the Constitution granted citizenship to individuals born in the country to “resident aliens.”

Both proponents and opponents of the measure cite the 14th Amendment to validate their positions, differing in their interpretations of the clause, “[a]ll 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.”  

Bonta and other attorneys general assert that the clause applies to all individuals born within the nation, whereas Trump and his supporters interpret the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” clause as a legal basis for the newly proposed definition. 

If put into effect, tens of thousands of children born in the U.S.—estimated at around 24,500 in California alone—may “face deportation threats” and lose access to benefit programs, according to Bonta’s office. 

The complaint further claims that the law would cause “irreparable harm” to California and other states by jeopardizing federal funding for programs such as Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance, given that these programs include provisions linked to citizenship and immigration status. 

In addition to California, attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin, along with the cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have collaborated to request the preliminary injunction. 

When queried by reporters while signing the order about the possibility of legal challenges, the president dismissed the concern and expressed confidence that the law would prevail. 

“We believe we have a strong legal foundation,” Trump remarked. “People have wanted to do this for decades.”