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Irma Gonzalez, president of San Benito County League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 2890, says President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for the end of birthright citizenship, signed on his first day in office, is an attack on the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s our stance as LULAC that any attempt to undermine the constitutionality that is protected by our birthright is an affront to both our laws and to human decency,” Gonzalez told BenitoLink.
LULAC is a national civil rights organization, and Council 2890 is one of several groups that have filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order.
Jacob Sandoval is the state director for LULAC in California. He says LULAC and other groups suing the administration have past precedent on their side in the case.
“We feel very confident that we will likely prevail in the lawsuit,” Sandoval said.
Gonzalez issued a press release on Jan. 21 announcing the groups’ participation in the lawsuit.
“Our council stands with State and National LULAC, in strongly opposing President Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship,” he said.
Birthright citizenship refers to a part of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that says any person born in the U.S. is a citizen: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 mandating that birthright citizenship no longer applies to those born in the U.S. to parents here unlawfully, or to people whose visas were temporary. The order affects all such children born on or after Feb. 19.
Groups across the country have filed lawsuits against the order, claiming that it is unconstitutional. Sandoval says the order could cause more legal uncertainty because it lacks a clear process for children born at hospitals.
“If the infrastructure is not put into place to confirm [which] children would have legal status or not, you’re leaving a lot of legal uncertainty with families across the country,” Sandoval said.
LULAC and New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire. According to Sandoval, if the judge rules against the Trump administration, it could block the executive order nationally.
Gonzalez said her parents were migrant farmworkers from Mexico. She said she understands the stakes of the issue because she’s seen how conditions have changed.
“Living conditions have improved somewhat from when I was a child, but I think we have a long way to go,” she said. “If this policy is implemented, it’s going to be detrimental to everyone.”
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