The Santa Clara County Government Center, with trees and cars in a parking lot in the foreground
The Santa Clara County Government Center is pictured in this file photo.

Santa Clara County officials have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

The lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday calls the order unlawful and unconstitutional. Trump issued the order within hours of taking office on Jan. 20, calling for the rejection of a 150-year-old constitutional provision stating everyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen regardless of their parents’ citizenship.

The 14th Amendment guaranteed birthright citizenship in 1868, as one of the post-Civil War reconstruction amendments to address the treatment of enslaved people. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the amendment in a 1898 ruling involving a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, which was filed in the same federal court as Santa Clara County’s lawsuit.

The Trump administration argues children of undocumented immigrants are not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. laws, and the 14th Amendment doesn’t apply to children born to people in the country unlawfully.

County leaders argue Trump’s order could have profound local impacts, such as denying benefits to children.

“This order is an attack on our entire community, in particular our immigrant community, and the moral fabric that enables Santa Clara County to thrive,” District 1 Supervisor Sylvia Arenas said in a statement. “Every child born in the United States has the same citizenship rights, and that’s not something that this president can take away.”

Santa Clara County has one of the largest and most diverse immigrant populations of any of California’s 58 counties, according to U.S. Census data. Hundreds of thousands of county residents were born outside of the United States and speak a language other than English at home.

More than 60% of Santa Clara County children are believed to have at least one foreign-born parent. County leaders say this is the highest percentage in California, and one of the highest percentages of any county in the United States.
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Tony LoPresti, the county’s top lawyer, said Trump’s order has no legal foundation.

“No president has the power to enact, amend, or repeal statutes, much less the Constitution itself,” LoPresti said. “This order illegally instructs federal agencies and officials to refuse to follow and execute a wide range of laws that rest on the bedrock constitutional foundation of birthright citizenship.”

The county lawsuit comes amid a chorus of other lawsuits against the order from other states. A Seattle judge placed a temporary block on the directive via a 14-day temporary restraining order on Jan. 23.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.

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