WASHINGTON – A federal judge blocked on Thursday at the national level the application of President Donald’s decree Trump, with which it seeks to end the right to citizenship By birth in USA.
Since his first presidential campaign in 2016, Donald Trump has argued that automatic citizenship by birth – known as Jus Soli– It has been used as an “easy way” to obtain migratory and legal benefits. In his vision, the constitutional principle granted by nationality to any person born on American soil has been used by migrants in an irregular situation to ensure the legal status of their children and, eventually, obtain it themselves. Therefore, he proposed to limit this right to the children of citizens or permanent residents.
Trump’s proposal seeks to reinterpret the 14th amendment of the Constitution, which since 1868 guarantees citizens to every person born in US territory, without distinction by the immigration status of parents. Although numerous jurists and previous failures have confirmed the strength of this principle, the former president argues that he should not apply to children of people in the country without legal authorization or with temporary visas. His team considers that this reinterpretation could deter irregular migration and reduce what they call “birth tourism.”
The precautionary measure arrives days after the Supreme Court It issued a historical ruling on June 27 that limits the ability of judges to stop policies throughout the country through universal precautionary measures based on particular cases.
In this way, the highest court gave Trump’s plans, which aspires to restrict automatic citizenship for children of migrants in an irregular situation or low temporary residence status, such as asylum or visas, could go into force in some parts of the country. But he did not declare that this policy is legal or in accordance with the Constitution.
In addition, he prohibited Trump’s decree from entering into force within 30 days, that is, until July 27, and left open the possibility of judges accepting collective demands.
Organizations can represent babies
The defense organizations of the migrants took the opportunity to continue battling the decree and requested the status of collective action in some demands.
This Thursday the federal judge Joseph Laplante de New Hampshire (Northeast) agreed and will allow them to represent any baby whose citizenship is threatened by Trump’s decree. This same judge had already opposed another executive order in another February ruling, but limiting the scope of their ruling only to the members of several organizations and not with a universal character, and then claimed that Trump’s order violated the 14 constitutional amendment.
“The Court grants the petition for the plaintiffs for the provisional certification of collective action” because it meets “the requirements,” says the ruling. This allows the judge to block the decree nationwide.
“The deprivation of American citizenship and an abrupt change of a policy that has had a long duration is irreparable damage (for the plaintiffs),” argues the federal judge of the New Hampshire district Joseph Laplante, according to the CNN chain.
According to the ruling, it applies to babies born on February 20, 2025 or later, whose mothers are in the country in an irregular or legally, but with a temporary visa, and whose parents are not Americans or permanent residents in the country.
The magistrate Laplante emphasizes, however, that it is a “preliminary precautionary measure” and gave a period of seven days for the government to resort.
Supreme Court, Final Decision
“This ruling is a great victory and will help protect the citizens of all children born in the United States, as the Constitution provides,” says Cody Wofsy, manager of the US Union of Civil Libertads (ACLU), one of the organizations presented by the case.
The principle is enshrined in the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution, which has been in force for more than 150 years and determines that any person born on American soil is a citizen.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the bottom of the case.
