Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Challenges Unconstitutional Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship

MAINE, January 21 - Back to current news.

January 21, 2025
Attorney Generals Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: Danna Hayes 

Danna.hayes@maine.gov

 

 

Attorney General Aaron M. Frey Challenges Unconstitutional Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship 

 

As President Trump Issues Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship, Maine and 18 Other States File Suit to Defend Basic Constitutional Rights for All Americans

 

AUGUSTA – Attorney General Aaron M. Frey today announced that he and 18 other states are challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship, which violates the constitutional rights to which all children born in the U.S. are entitled.

“It was anticipated that the President would issue this unconstitutional block on citizenship, but that does not make it any less disappointing,” said Attorney General Frey. “The election did not change the Constitution and legal action is required to remind the President that his oath is to uphold that sacred document, not rewrite it.” 

President Trump today issued an executive order fulfilling his repeated promise to end birthright citizenship, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

To stop the President’s unlawful action, which violates the Constitution and will harm hundreds of thousands of American children, Attorney General Frey is filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts seeking to invalidate the executive order and to enjoin any actions taken to implement it. The states request immediate relief to prevent the President’s Order from taking effect through both a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction.

As the Attorney General’s filing today explains, birthright citizenship dates back centuries—including to pre-Civil War America. 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.

The individuals who are stripped of their United States citizenship lose their most basic rights, and will be forced to live under the threat of deportation. These individuals will lose eligibility for a wide range of federal benefits programs. They will lose their ability obtain a Social Security number and, as they age, to work lawfully. And they will lose their right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices. Despite the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship, thousands of children will—for the first time—lose their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges.

In addition to harming hundreds of thousands of residents, the States’ filing explains that today’s order significantly harms the States themselves too. Among other things, this Order will cause the States to lose federal funding to programs that they administer, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and foster care and adoption assistance programs, which all turn at least in part on the immigration status of the resident being served. States will also be required—on no notice and at its considerable expense—to immediately begin modifying their operation and administration of benefits programs to account for this change, which will require significant burdens for multiple agencies that operate programs for the benefit of the States’ residents. The States’ filing explains that they should not have to bear these dramatic costs while their case proceeds because the Order is directly inconsistent with the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and two U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

States joining Maine in today’s filing include NJ, MA, CA, NY, CT, RI, MI, CO, DE, NV, HI, MD, MN, NM, VT, WI, NC, DC, and the City of San Francisco.

 

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