AG Brown statement on federal court temporarily blocking unconstitutional order on birthright citizenship nationwide

SEATTLE - A federal judge today granted Washington State's motion for a nationwide temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's unconstitutional attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants who will be born in the United States. The judge's order blocks federal agencies from implementing the president's executive order on birthright citizenship while the court initially considers the case.

In granting the Attorney General's motion, the court agreed the states' lawsuit is likely to prevail on the merits of their cases. This order means that immigrant families nationally are protected from any immediate threat of their children losing citizenship. The federal government is not allowed to take any action to deny the protections of citizenship to children born in the U.S. while the lawsuit proceeds.

"This unconstitutional and un-American executive order will hopefully never take effect thanks to the actions states are taking on behalf of their residents," Brown said. "Birthright citizenship makes clear that citizenship cannot be conditioned on one's race, ethnicity or where their parents came from. It's the law of our nation, recognized by generations of jurists, lawmakers, and presidents, until President Trump's illegal action. That's why we've stepped in to protect Washingtonians from harm."

Case background

Attorney General Nick Brown filed on Jan. 21 a multistate federal lawsuit and sought a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump's unconstitutional executive order attempting to unilaterally strip citizenship from Americans across the United States, including thousands of babies born in Washington each year.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, was joined by Oregon, Arizona and Illinois. The complaint asserts that President Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship in the United States violates the 14^th Amendment of the U.S Constitution and the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. The lawsuit asserts the president has no authority to override the Constitution and that no constitutional provision or law empowers him to determine who should or should not be granted U.S. citizenship at birth.

More about the lawsuit here and in Spanish here.

Wing Luke Civil Rights Division Chief Colleen Melody, Assistant Attorneys General Lane Polozola, Daniel Jeon and Alyson Dimmitt Gnam, and Paralegals Tiffany Jennings and Anna Alfonso are handling the case for Washington.

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