Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

Michigan is one of multiple states that has filed suit against President Donald Trump regarding his executive order limiting birthright citizenship.

“Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced that she, along with the attorneys general of 16 other states, plus Washington D.C. and the City of San Francisco, are challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to limit birthright citizenship, which violates the constitutional rights to which all children born in the United States are entitled,” a release from Nessel said.

Trump issued an executive order on Monday stating in part “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”

Further in the order, it is stated that those people born to mothers who are either in the country illegally or have a temporary visa and have fathers that are not citizens or lawful permanent residents do not qualify for birthright citizenship.

“Birthright citizenship is a basic right granted to all Americans born on United States soil with historic roots and long-lasting implications for the states and their residents,” Nessel said. “The Citizenship Clause has stood as constitutional law in this nation for more than 150 years and has twice been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is disappointing that in the first hours of this incoming administration, the first perceived enemy President Trump has struck against is the U.S. Constitution.”

The Fourteenth Amendment states 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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Nessel said the executive order is also in violation of Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which also says that all persons born in the United States are citizens.

The executive order will not go into effect for 30 days, and it doesn’t rescind the citizenship of those already born in the U.S. The states who have filed the suit want the executive order paused until the litigation is resolved.

In the press release, Nessel said birthright citizenship dated back centuries.

“Although the Supreme Court’s notorious decision in Dred Scott denied birthright citizenship to the descendants of slaves, the post-Civil War United States adopted the Fourteenth Amendment to protect citizenship for children born in the country. As the Attorney General’s filing also explains, the U.S. Supreme Court has twice upheld birthright citizenship, regardless of the immigration status of the baby’s parents.”

Those who lose birthright citizenship will not be eligible for many federal benefit programs including the ability to get a Social Security number and lawfully work, the release said.

“Today’s executive order is a clear violation of American law,” Nessel said. “The U.S.Constitution lays out the steps to alter an amendment unequivocally and clearly, and those steps do not include an executive order on the first or any day of a presidential term.”

The release said states will also lose out on federal funding for certain programs, including Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and foster care and adoption assistance programs. Such programs partially rely on the immigration status of the residents being served.

Michigan, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the two cities mentioned earlier are among those involved in the lawsuit. Officials said other states and cities may join.

Nessel also released a video on YouTube, which is linked below, going over her reasons for filing the suits.

A link to Trump’s executive order can also be found below.