Two Harris County officials joined the ongoing legal challenge against an executive order by President Donald Trump that blocks the children of illegal aliens from receiving U.S. citizenship just for being born in the U.S.
In the January 20 executive action, Trump ordered that United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States if their mother was in the country illegally or temporarily and their father was not a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia signed onto an amicus brief backing a lawsuit filed by Democrat-run states that are attempting to stop Trump’s order.
“The Fourteenth Amendment is not up for debate. If you’re born on U.S. soil, you’re a U.S. citizen. Full stop,” wrote Menefee. “Harris County won’t back down from protecting its residents and standing up for the Constitution.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the sole Republican on the commissioners court, told Texas Scorecard, “I do not support random litigation against President Trump or anyone else. It’s a waste of time, money, and effort when there could be meaningful discussions for change instead. I’ll be voting no on the lawsuit.”
Some constitutional scholars argue that the 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, was never meant to apply to children of those who entered the country illegally. Instead, they argue its original intent was to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans.
Granting birthright citizenship to the children of illegal aliens and tourists has served as an effective incentive for people to enter the United States for the purpose of giving birth, creating a birth tourism industry to help foreign women have their children in the United States.
A woman was recently sentenced in California to more than three years in prison for operating a birth tourism agency that charged Chinese women tens of thousands of dollars to help them give birth in the United States.
Supporters of Trump’s executive action argue that ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens is a necessary step to stop incentivizing illegal immigration.
Republican attorneys general of 18 states have submitted an amicus brief in support of Trump’s executive action.
“If someone comes on a tourist visa to have an anchor baby, they are not under that original meaning of the United States Constitution,” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird told Fox News in an interview Monday.
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