Just hours after being sworn in as president for the second time, Donald Trump issued a controversial executive order

Just hours after starting his second term as president, Donald Trump signed a controversial order to end birthright citizenship.

This citizenship is protected by the U.S. Constitution and gives citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., even if their parents are not U.S. citizens. The executive order quickly faced legal challenges to stop it from being enforced... Continue reading here ▶

Fulfilling a promise from his campaign, Trump directed government officials to stop recognizing citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are either in the country illegally or are only here temporarily. This rule would take effect 30 days after the order was signed.

What the order says:

The policy says no U.S. government agency should issue or accept documents recognizing citizenship for individuals if:

• The person’s mother was in the U.S. illegally, and their father was not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident when the person was born.
• The person’s mother was in the U.S. legally but only temporarily, and their father was not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident at the time of birth.

While signing the order, Trump argued that the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship, saying, “We have to end it.” However, this is not true—many countries, including Mexico and Canada, also grant citizenship based on where a person is born (a principle called jus soli, meaning “right of the soil”).

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other immigrant rights groups quickly sued Trump in federal court. They claimed that birthright citizenship is a key part of America’s values and that Trump’s order violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.

The Fourteenth Amendment was specifically written to ensure that anyone born in the U.S. is automatically a citizen, even if their parents are immigrants. The lawsuit also referred to a Supreme Court decision from over 125 years ago (U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark), which confirmed that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., including children of immigrants.

The lawsuit accused Trump of ignoring the Constitution and long-standing legal rules. The ACLU called the executive order unconstitutional and an attack on American values. Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU’s director, said, “Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the U.S. strong. This order aims to create a group of people born in America who would be denied full rights. We will fight this in court and are confident we will win.”