President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship has sparked debate across the country.
The executive order, signed on Trump’s first day in office, aims to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants. This directly challenges the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the U.S.
Dr. Maria Lara, an immigration attorney from Charlotte County and the immigration chair for the League of United Latin American Citizens in Florida, says the president does not have the authority to end birthright citizenship.
“The amendment states, 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,” Lara said. “So they made that distinctive decision to pass the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868.”
Lara said that while the president has enforcement authority over immigration laws, he cannot overturn constitutional amendments.
“The president has a lot of authority with respect to the enforcement of immigration law or laws of the United States, naturally. However, he does not have the right, by law or by any other means, to overturn a piece of legislation or clearly to overturn a constitutional amendment or a principle that is based on a constitutional amendment, such as birthplace citizenship,” she said.
The executive order has already faced its first legal challenge. On Thursday, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the order, calling it unconstitutional.
“Obviously, we’ll appeal it,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “There’s no surprises with that judge.”
The executive order is part of Trump’s broader immigration agenda. In addition to declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, he has temporarily suspended the U.S. refugee admission program.
If the order survives its legal challenges, it will go into effect Feb. 19. After that date, children born to undocumented parents would no longer be eligible for U.S. citizenship.