Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill has joined 17 other state attorneys general in supporting President Trump’s executive order aimed at denying U.S. citizenship to certain newborns through an amicus brief. This legal filing opposes a motion by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other advocates for immigrants’ rights challenging the order’s constitutionality.
The executive order, currently under a temporary block by a judge who labeled it “blatantly unconstitutional,” is facing further legal scrutiny with hearings scheduled this week.
Libby Skarin, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wyoming, expressed strong opposition to this move, stating, “Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values.” She highlighted that Wyoming’s stance sends a message of exclusion, potentially affecting not only those directly targeted by the order but also casting doubt on the citizenship of others based on race or parental status.
Birthright citizenship, enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ensures citizenship for anyone born in the U.S., with very narrow exceptions. This amendment, ratified in 1868, was a significant step in affirming citizenship rights post-Dred Scott decision and was later upheld by the Supreme Court in the 1898 case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, securing citizenship for children of immigrants born on U.S. soil.
Skarin further criticized the support for the executive order as a misuse of state resources and fundamentally damaging, emphasizing that “Every child born in the United States should be born with the same rights as every other child.”
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