President Donald Trump’s attempt to halt birthright citizenship for some babies born to immigrants will not take effect in Massachusetts, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Friday, but a U.S. Supreme Court ruling complicates the outlook in red states.
In a ruling on Friday, the nation’s highest court limited nationwide injunctions that for months had prevented Trump’s day-one birthright citizenship executive order from taking effect, and the high court stopped short of deciding whether the order itself runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution.
Instead, the court delayed Trump’s order from taking effect for another 30 days and returned cases challenging the policy to lower courts, according to the Associated Press. More legal action is expected in the coming weeks.
Campbell said “the executive order will not go into effect here in Massachusetts,” echoing a sentiment several other Democratic attorneys general shared on during a virtual press briefing.
Depending on when or whether justices address the underlying constitutionality question, the Democratic attorneys general and some legal observers warned that citizenship for newborns could become a patchwork system, with the changes blocked in states who challenged Trump and taking effect in those that did not.
“I believe within the next 30 days, we’re going to get more clarity and we’re going to prevail,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. “But in 30 days, if that’s not the case and we still have uncertainty, if I’m born in Connecticut, yes, the injunction still applies to me. Birthright citizenship is still the law of the land in Connecticut. But what about in Pennsylvania? What about in Texas? What if a pregnant woman in Connecticut goes to Texas, goes to Pennsylvania, goes to Louisiana, goes to Utah and has the baby there? Then what happens?”
One reporter asked Washington Attorney General Nick Brown if a baby born to undocumented parents in Idaho -- whose Republican attorney general, Raúl Labrador, did not join lawsuits challenging Trump’s order -- after the 30-day pause would be a U.S. citizen.
“What I would say is that their rights are tenuous,” Brown replied. “It’s a 116-page decision, so we’re still analyzing the full scope of the order and analyzing the dissents as well. But if you are living in a state that did not participate in this coalition of action against the Trump administration, then your rights are in question.”
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that “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.”
In 1898, the Supreme Court’s United States v. Wong Kim Ark decision ruled that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese nationals is a citizen.
In January, Trump on his first day in office issued an executive order instructing federal departments and agencies not to issue citizenship to anyone newly born here to a mother who is unlawfully present and a father who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident, or to a mother who is here lawfully but temporarily and a father who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The president on social media celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “GIANT WIN,” writing that “the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard,” according to Politico.
Campbell said citizenship should be consistent across the country as a whole.
“Citizenship does not depend on whether a baby is born in New Hampshire or Massachusetts. People move. They live along state borders. They’re born in hospitals outside the state they live in,” she said. “A baby’s citizenship should not, cannot and must not be determined by the borders of the state they find themselves in at the time of birth.”
In a statement Friday, Campbell called the Supreme Court decision “disappointing” and said it “introduces additional procedural hurdles.” She added, “We look forward to demonstrating why nationwide relief in this case is necessary, as the court has invited us to do.”
Some opponents of Trump’s order renewed their legal fight after the court’s ruling. Advocacy group CASA, a plaintiff in the original case, joined with the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP) and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University to file a class action lawsuit Friday, which will receive a District Court hearing Monday in Maryland.
Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said Friday’s decision to reject lower court injunctions “provides an avenue for individual states to decide who is and is not a U.S. Citizen.”
“President Trump has committed countless attacks on America’s immigrant community, and the Supreme Court allowing this misguided policy to move forward without pause while the lower courts rule is disgraceful,” Sweet said. “The courts have recognized the 14th Amendment for over a century and this decision will not stop the MIRA Coalition from continuing to fight for the rights of immigrants in Massachusetts and across the country.”
Trump and his Republican allies have sought to crack down on immigration and immigrant communities, including with a major deportation campaign.
The administration on Friday also announced it would terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than half a million Haitian migrants in September, a move that will affect the substantial Haitian population in Massachusetts.
Gov. Maura Healey said Saturday that her team would “do all that we can to support” Haitians living in the Bay State.
“Massachusetts’ Haitian community is vibrant, resilient and valued. They are our neighbors, business owners, teachers, early educators and health care providers. Fifteen years ago, they fled a devastating earthquake, and more recently flood, famine and violence in Haiti — which is still ongoing — and came here in search of a better, safer life,” Healey said. “The United States government gave them permission to be here in a protected status years ago, but now President Trump is taking that away. They are doing hard work, paying taxes, running businesses and raising families here. This is devastating for them and for our workforce and economy.”
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
