Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today led a multistate coalition defending birthright citizenship at the U.S. Supreme Court, standing up to President Trump’s illegal effort to rewrite the Constitution and overturn federal law.
On his first day in office in 2025, President Trump issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship for countless children born in the United States to immigrant parents, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
New Jersey immediately led a multistate lawsuit challenging the order. The States repeatedly obtained a nationwide preliminary injunction that have blocked this Executive Order from ever taking effect anywhere in the country. Indeed, every judge to consider the merits of this Order has agreed that it is unlawful.
The Supreme Court is now considering the validity of this Order in the context of a challenge brought by a class of children who would lose citizenship under the order, Barbara v. Trump. Amici – including 24 State AGs – submit this amicus brief to explain why this Executive Order violates the Citizenship Clause, binding Supreme Court precedent, and the INA, and explain how the Order would impose significant harms on States and their residents.
“New Jersey continues to lead the way in defending our birthright citizens and the rule of law from attacks coming out of Washington, D.C.,” said Attorney General Davenport. “Instead of focusing on the cost of living or public safety, the President is unlawfully attempting to strip countless American babies of their citizenship, violating the Constitution, federal statutes, and over a century of Supreme Court precedent. The States are fighting back.”
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 NJ-led amicus brief explains, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld birthright citizenship, regardless of the immigration status of the baby’s parents. In addition, Congress codified birthright citizenship into law twice, first in 1940 and then again in 1952.
If allowed to stand, this Executive Order—for the first time since the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868—would mean thousands of babies born each year in New Jersey who otherwise would have been citizens will no longer enjoy the privileges and benefits of citizenship.
The children stripped of their citizenship lose their most basic rights, and will be forced to live under a threat of deportation. Some babies will be stateless, lacking a home country to return to. They will lose eligibility for a wide range of federal services and 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 residents, including in New Jersey, the States’ filing explains that the order significantly harms the States too. Among other things, States will lose federal funding to programs 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 citizenship status of the resident being served. States will also be required—at considerable expense—to immediately begin modifying their operation and administration of benefits programs to account for this change, which will impose significant burdens on multiple agencies that operate programs for the benefit of the States’ residents.
Even more alarming, although the order President Trump signed indicates it would only apply to babies born after certain date, there is no reason to believe the Trump Administration will stop there if a court sides with its theories. The citizenship of countless Americans could be called into question, including those accorded birthright citizenship decades ago. Citizenship of countless Americans could be called into question, including those accorded birthright citizenship decades ago.
The coalition joining Attorney General Davenport in today’s amicus brief include Washington, Massachusetts, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as San Francisco.