“Native American children are not American citizens,” the Supreme Court said in its ruling on Trump’s birthright citizenship order

By Oliver

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Native American children are not American citizens, the Supreme Court said in its ruling on Trump's birthright citizenship order

One of the many executive orders issued by President Donald Trump during his first week back in office is an attempt to end birthright citizenship, a constitutional right that automatically grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States or its territories.

Attorney Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, one of many organizations suing the Trump administration over the executive order, stated, “Denying citizenship to babies born on US soil is illegal, profoundly cruel, and contrary to our country’s values.”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour temporarily blocked the order, describing it as “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Former US Solicitor General and Supreme Court lawyer Neal Katyal responded to the executive order, saying, “This is quite incredible.

Trump’s Justice Department argues that immigrant children covered by the birthright citizenship Order cannot be citizens because Native American children are not US citizens.

Katyal shared a screenshot of the Order, which references the Supreme Court decision Elk v. Wilkins.

In the 1884 case, the Court ruled that because members of Indian tribes owe “immediate allegiance” to their tribes, they are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and thus do not have constitutional rights to citizenship.

According to Trump’s order, the US has a weaker connection with illegal alien children than it does with Indian tribe members. If the latter link is insufficient for birthright citizenship, the former is unquestionably necessary.”

Note: President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted US citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.

It was enacted in part to honor the approximately 12,000 Native Americans who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War I, as well as the tens of thousands of Native Americans who “supported the war at home by working in war industries, purchasing war bonds, and assisting in war relief efforts.”

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