Immigration attorney provides analysis on Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship
AUSTIN, Texas - President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship is already facing legal challenges.
"We're the only country in the world that does this with birthright, as you know, and it's just absolutely ridiculous, but, you know, we'll see. We think we have very good grounds," Trump said Monday while signing of slew of executive orders.
RELATED STORIES:
- Trump executive action attempts to end birthright citizenship
- California, immigrant rights group take aim at Trump over birthright citizenship order
- States sue to block Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship
What is birthright citizenship?
The backstory:
Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen.
The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen. It was approved after the Civil War, overturning the Dred Scott decision, which said children of slaves were not citizens.
The other side:
The executive order seeks to deny citizenship to anyone whose mother is not legally in the U.S. or is temporarily in the U.S. on a legal basis. This also applies to fathers who are not citizens or legal permanent residents.
States sue to block Trump's executive order
What they're saying:
Nearly two dozen states, along with the ACLU, are suing to block the executive order.
"This executive order is an assault on the rule of law... it's an assault on the very text of the Constitution," Matthew Platkin, New Jersey Attorney General said.
Immigration attorney weighs in
What they're saying:
Thomas Esparza, a local immigration attorney, provides his analysis.
"I don't see how this president, just by fiat, can ignore a part of our Constitution," he said. "It sure is going to scare the hell out of a lot of people."
Esparza says this would affect many things, including a child's ability to get a passport and federal benefits like housing and Medicaid.
"That means the children don't count in terms of removal proceedings, so you don't get to present them as equities if they're not citizens of the United States," he said.
A change in the Constitution would have to pass two-thirds of both houses of Congress and be approved by three-fourths of the states.
The order would go into effect 30 days from the signing, but Esparza sees it ending up in the Supreme Court.
"It doesn't take effect because it will be enjoined. However, people will be cognizant of it. I don't know what people are going to do, whether they're going to rush to have their babies sooner," he said.
He says there's lots of fear in immigrant communities.
"They're scared. They don't know what to do. They're making plans. I encourage them to do their very best, to just be calm, to prepare for their children, to have a plan, to have powers of attorney, to be ready for anything," he said.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen and previous coverage