Trump's new birthright citizenship executive orders challenged in federal court by immigrant advocacy groups

President Donald Trump's new executive orders restricting birthright citizenship have been met with court challenges from the same groups that successfully opposed his earlier attempt.

Lawsuits Filed

CASA, Inc. and Barbara (the pseudonym of an anonymous pregnant immigrant) each filed motions in federal court on Tuesday against the Trump administration. The motions seek to halt Trump's August 6 executive orders targeting "birth tourism" and limiting the application of the Fourteenth Amendment.

• CASA is supported by the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
• Barbara is supported by groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, Democracy Defenders, and the Asian Law Caucus.

The plaintiffs argue that the Supreme Court's June ruling against Trump's previous attack on birthright citizenship prevented any "revisions" regarding legal exceptions.

Key Arguments

Barbara's lawsuit states: "If the President issues 100 orders seeking to create new exceptions to the sacred guarantee of the Citizenship Clause, all 100 will be equally illegal. And nothing requires this Court to countenance the continued assault on this foundational constitutional principle or issue an endless string of EO-specific injunctions."

Scope of the New Orders

The new order restricting the Fourteenth Amendment directs government agencies not to "issue documents recognizing United States citizenship" to:

• Diplomats in the U.S.
• Children of alleged members of "terrorist organizations"
• People completing a "commercial transaction" to ensure a child is born on U.S. soil
• Certain people born in U.S. territories

Legal Outlook

The executive orders were already considered unlikely to survive legal challenges, as they employ many of the same legal arguments that the Supreme Court struck down in June.

Reactions

In a statement Tuesday, Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus, said the White House "is just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks."

"Immigrant communities know that our rights are on the line, especially when the government uses us as scapegoats," Kohli said. "The Trump administration already lost once, and it will lose again."

Read more about birthright citizenship: Trump Thinks He Can Defy the Supremes on Birthright Citizenship

White House Pushes for New Reflecting Pool Prosecution

President Donald Trump continues to pursue allegations of vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, despite evidence to the contrary.

White House officials have directed the Department of Justice to consider launching another lawsuit against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Background

The request comes after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro moved to drop the cases against Hearn and three other alleged vandals. Her office discovered evidence that the pool's loose lining was caused by a "rushed and flawed installation process."

Even after Pirro walked the president through her trove of exculpatory evidence, Trump has continued to cite witness testimony and video footage. However, the DOJ has been clear that it cannot prove the allegations.

Legal Status

A federal judge dropped the charges against Hearn but said he would wait to decide whether the case was dismissed "without prejudice." A dismissal without prejudice would mean the Trump administration could not prosecute Hearn for the same crime going forward.

Congressional Action

This week, Representative Jamie Raskin—the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee—will formally demand that the Justice and Interior Departments turn over documents related to the charging decisions made in this case.

Read more about the Reflecting Pool: Trump Pushes Reflecting Pool Claim His DOJ Already Admitted Is Fake