President Trump's Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship Creates Chaos, Hurts U.S.-Born Children & Immigrant Families

21 January 2025, GREENBELT, MD — Today, five pregnant mothers, CASA, and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), filed a lawsuit in response to the issuance of the Executive Order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” (Birthright Citizenship Executive Order), which purports to end the constitutional right of birthright citizenship explicitly provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment. The case, CASA v. Trump, was filed in the District of Maryland, and is being litigated by ASAP, CASA and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown Law.

WHAT: Virtual press conference with directly impacted pregnant mother, and leadership from CASA, ASAP, and ICAP at Georgetown Law

WHERE: Zoom Call 

WHEN: Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 12 PM ET

RSVP for additional details

With this Executive Order, the federal government aims to eliminate the 14th Amendment’s guarantee that “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.” 

“When I fled persecution in my country, I found a new home in the United States and am proud of the life my husband and I have built in this country over the last six years,” said Monica, a pregnant mother, member of ASAP, asylum seeker, and named plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I am shocked that the government does not want my child born in the United States to have U.S. citizenship. I am scared for my child and for our family, especially since we cannot return to our country or get our child any other citizenship – I don’t know what we will do.”
Plaintiff Maribel is a CASA member who has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has two children who were born in this country. This pregnant mom shared, “I am afraid that my unborn child will be denied the basic rights that my other children enjoy – including access to healthcare and a quality education. Without the protections of U.S. citizenship, the Trump administration could even try to rip my baby away from me and our family and deport them to a country they’ve never known. It is deeply wrong to subject a newborn baby to such cruelty.”

“This Executive Order undermines the very fabric of our democracy and represents a direct assault on the constitution.  By attempting to deny U.S. citizenship to children born within our borders, based solely on the immigration status of their parents, President Trump is seeking to upend centuries of history and established legal protections through executive fiat.  This will not stand,” said Nicholas Katz, CASA’s General Counsel. “CASA is committed to protecting our members and defending their rights, while continuing to fight for a fair and just immigration system, built on dignity and respect for all people.”  

“Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and has been recognized by the Supreme Court as the law of the land for over 100 years,” said Rupa Bhattacharyya, Legal Director at ICAP. “The President of the United States has no power to amend the Constitution with the stroke of a pen on an Executive Order. We are confident that the Court will correct this overreach and ensure that all babies born in the United States receive their rightful citizenship and all of the privileges and benefits that flow from it.”

“This Executive Order has already created chaos and confusion in immigrant communities and amongst our membership, as many asylum seekers wonder if their U.S. born children will have to apply for asylum,” said Swapna Reddy, ASAP’s Co-Executive Director. “Our members, like so many other immigrant parents in the United States right now, are scared: scared their children will not be able to live a stable life free of fear, and scared that their children will not belong in the only country they have ever known. More than 150 years ago, Black people worked together to secure a more equal right to U.S. citizenship, and we are now proud to defend this right for our membership, more than 90,000 of whom are Black.”

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With over 155,000 lifetime members across 46 US states, CASA is a national powerhouse organization building power and improving the quality of life in working-class: Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities. CASA creates change with its power building model blending human services, community organizing, and advocacy in order to serve the full spectrum of the needs, dreams, and aspirations of members. www.wearecasa.org 

The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) believes that asylum seekers can make change by standing together. We work with our members — over 680,000 asylum seekers — to build a more welcoming United States. Learn more about ASAP’s work at asylumadvocacy.org and follow us on X at @asylumadvocacy.

The mission of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection is to use strategic legal advocacy to defend constitutional rights and values while working to restore confidence in the integrity of governmental institutions. Connect with ICAP at www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/, [email protected], or @GeorgetownICAP.