National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles (NLG-LA) Condemns Trump’s Unconstitutional Promise to End Birthright Citizenship
We at National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles (NLG-LA) are appalled by Donald Trump’s statement that he intends to sign an executive order which would “remove the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S.-soil.”
We at National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles (NLG-LA) are appalled by Donald Trump’s statement that he intends to sign an executive order which would “remove the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S.-soil.”
We unequivocally condemn Trump’s stated intention to sign an executive order which would remove the right to citizenship from children of immigrants. This is clearly prohibited by the 14th Amendment, which states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” More than a century of Supreme Court case law affirms this principle. It is ironic that a politician who espouses “textualism” would propose something so clearly prohibited by constitutional text. Trump needs to read the Constitution that he claims to represent.
Trump’s statement is sadly in line with his history of xenophobic, race-baiting political theater. From the “travel ban” to his statements about asylum seekers, Trump has shown a sad propensity to engage in hateful political rhetoric. We unequivocally oppose this administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, and we stand united with the immigrant community throughout Los Angeles and across the country.
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) was founded in 1937 as the country’s first racially-integrated bar association of progressive lawyers and jurists who believed that they had a major role to play in the reconstruction of legal values to emphasize human rights over property rights. The Guild is the oldest and most extensive network of public interest and human rights activists working within the legal system. For more information, visit www.NLG-LA.org.