America First Legal filed two amicus briefs this week in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.
The firm filed the briefs on behalf of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and 17 other committee members.
Despite there being nearly two dozen Democrat-run states and civil rights groups suing to stop the order and two federal judges ruling to temporarily block it, America First is arguing that there is a clear constitutional basis for denying citizenship to illegal migrants who have broken the country’s immigration laws.
‘BLATANTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL’: US JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS TRUMP’S BAN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump’s order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States” when that person’s parents are either unlawfully present in the U.S. or when the parents’ presence is lawful but temporary.
The briefs — which were filed in the federal courts for the Western District of Washington and the District of Massachusetts — argue that based on the “text and history” of the 14th Amendment, the Constitution does not confer citizenship on the children of unlawfully present aliens. The briefs claim that citizenship in the U.S. is a political right, not an automatic entitlement.
The 14th Amendment was passed in 1868 and was designed to extend citizenship to African-American former slaves. The 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.”
Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, told Fox News Digital that the phrase “subject…
