BOSTON: Immigrant and civil rights groups have filed the first lawsuits challenging executive orders President Donald Trump signed Monday after taking office, including one that seeks to roll back birthright citizenship in the United States.
The lawsuits were filed in federal courts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire late Monday, ahead of expected legal challenges from several Democratic attorneys general in states including California and Connecticut.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More lawsuits are expected from Democratic-led states and advocacy groups challenging other aspects of Trump’s agenda, with cases already filed targeting the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and an order the Republican signed that weakens the labor protections for public officials.
The New England lawsuits targeted a centerpiece of Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, an order directing federal agencies not to recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to mothers who are in the country illegally or temporarily present. , such as visa holders. , and whose parents are not citizens or legal permanent residents.
The plaintiffs argue that the Constitution states that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen.
Just hours after Trump took office, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed the first lawsuit challenging the order in Concord, New Hampshire. Another lawsuit was filed around midnight in Boston by an expectant mother and immigrant organizations.
Any ruling by those district court judges would be reviewed by the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, whose five active federal judges are all appointed by Democratic presidents, a national rarity.
Both lawsuits argue that the executive order violated the right enshrined in the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution that states that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen.
Both lawsuits cite the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, a decision holding that children born in the United States to noncitizen parents are entitled to U.S. citizenship.
Among the plaintiffs named in that lawsuit is a woman identified only as “O. Doe,” a Massachusetts resident who is in the country under temporary protected status and is due to give birth in March.
Temporary protected status is available to people whose home countries have experienced natural disasters, armed conflict or other extraordinary events and currently covers more than 1 million people from 17 nations.
Several other lawsuits challenging aspects of Trump’s other early executive actions are also pending.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents federal government employees in 37 agencies and departments, filed a lawsuit Monday night challenging an order signed by Trump that makes it easier to fire thousands of federal agency employees and replace them with loyalists. politicians.
Published in Dawn, January 22, 2025
