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The Trump administration made a new request to the Supreme Court on Thursday, asking justices to allow partial birthright citizenship restrictions.
The emergency application asked the court to narrow blocks to previous rulings by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that have stopped a full end to birthright citizenship efforts under President Donald Trump.
“The Plaintiff States will also suffer irreparable harm because thousands of children will be born within their borders but denied full participation and opportunity in American society. Absent a temporary restraining order, children born in the Plaintiff States will soon be rendered undocumented, subject to removal or detention, and many stateless,” the suit stated.
Around two dozen states, along with multiple individuals and groups, have filed lawsuits challenging the executive order, claiming it violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship for those born in the United States, the Associated Press reported.
The Justice Department contends that individual judges do not have the authority to impose nationwide rulings.
The legal battle follows an executive order by the president to end birthright citizenship.
“It is the policy of the United States that no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship, to persons: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth,” the order states.
The ban was set to go into effect on Feb. 19, impacting hundreds of thousands of children born in the U.S. each year.
“In 2022, there were about 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and about 153,000 births to two such parents, according to the four-state suit filed in Seattle,” the Associated Press previously reported.
