FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Contact: Nazneen Ahmed
(919) 716-0060
RALEIGH – Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 18 attorneys general challenged a new executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The order, beginning 30 days after signature, would strip children born in the United States of their guaranteed constitutional rights and their ability to fully and fairly be American citizens. Attorney General Jackson is asking the court to invalidate the executive order and stop it from being implemented.
Attorney General Jackson released the following statement:
“This executive order is a straightforward violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil. For over a century, this principle has been upheld by the Supreme Court and remains a bedrock of our constitutional framework.
“The Constitution leaves no room for executive reinterpretation on this matter—it is clear, settled, and binding. This order seeks to undermine that clarity, creating legal uncertainty and denying fundamental rights to children born in this country.
“As Attorney General, my role is straightforward as well: to defend the Constitution. That’s why I’ve joined this lawsuit, to uphold the rule of law and preserve the rights that have defined our nation for generations.”
The new executive order, which was signed yesterday, violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Fourteenth Amendment clearly states that, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Through no fault or action of their own, these children will lose their most basic rights and live under the threat of deportation. It is also unclear how North Carolina parents would be able to document and prove that their newborns are American citizens, since North Carolina birth certificates may not contain the necessary information to satisfy the requirements of the executive order.
After the Civil War, the United States adopted the Fourteenth Amendment to protect citizenship for children born in the country. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld birthright citizenship as far back as 1898, regardless of the immigration status of the baby’s parents.
Attorney General Jackson is filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, asking the court to invalidate the executive order and stop it from being implemented. The states are requesting a preliminary injunction while the lawsuit continues.
Attorney General Jackson is joined in filing this lawsuit by the Attorneys General of New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, as well as the city and county of San Francisco.
A copy of the complaint is available here.
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