AG Brown challenges unconstitutional order on birthright citizenship

U.S. Supreme Court affirmed citizenship by birth more than a century ago

OLYMPIA — Attorney General Nick Brown announced today that Washington is leading a multistate federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s unconstitutional order attempting to unilaterally strip citizenship from Americans across the United States, including thousands of babies born in Washington each year.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, was joined by Oregon, Arizona and Illinois. The complaint asserts that President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship in the United States violates the 14^th Amendment of the U.S Constitution and the federal Immigration and Nationality Act. The lawsuit asserts the president has no authority to override the Constitution and that no constitutional provision or law empowers him to determine who should or should not be granted U.S. citizenship at birth.  

The 14^th Amendment to the Constitution states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act likewise states that “a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is a national and a citizen of the U.S. at birth.

If allowed to stand, the unconstitutional and un-American order would cause thousands of newborns and children in Washington to lose their ability to fully and fairly participate in American society as citizens, despite the Constitution’s guarantee of their citizenship.

“My commitment to this office and to all the people of Washington is we will be prepared,” Brown said. “We will do everything in our power to defend the rights of Washingtonians.”

Gov. Bob Ferguson also criticized the Trump administration’s attack on birthright citizenship.

“We started preparing for this scenario more than a year ago,” Ferguson said. “The excellent team at the Attorney General’s Office is ready to fight this unlawful action, and they will have the full support of my administration.”

Mónica Mendoza-Cawthon, a Kent resident whose parents immigrated from Mexico and who was born a citizen, shared how this order impacts her family and millions like them.

"My parents came here with the promise of an American dream, the promise of freedom, of democracy. Largely thanks to their sacrifices, I was able to become a first-generation college graduate, and now a first generation law school graduate, set to take the bar exam later this year," Mendoza-Cawthon said. "Unfortunately, we are in a dark time in our national government, where the dreams of my parents are threatened to be taken away for so many people in the future."

President Trump’s Executive Order “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that a child born in the U.S. must have at least one parent who is either a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident to automatically become a U.S. citizen. The president’s campaign statements made clear this order was intended to curb illegal immigration.

While the president has broad authority on matters of immigration, Washington’s lawsuit asserts the president acted far outside the bounds of his legal authority in issuing this order. Brown asserts that allowing federal agencies to implement and enforce it will harm thousands of Washingtonians and the state at large.

Unlawfully stripping U.S. citizens of their right to citizenship will impact their ability to vote, travel abroad, secure housing, access health care, seek employment, run for public office, serve on juries and, more generally, participate fully in American society. 

The federal order will also cause irreparable harm to Washington and the states where those citizens live. Washington administers numerous programs to support the health and welfare of its residents. Many of those programs are supported by federal funding, which will be reduced as a result of the order.

The lawsuit seeks to block federal agencies from acting on this unconstitutional order. Washington seeks an emergency court order preventing any federal agency from relying on the order to deny the privileges of citizenship—including passports, social security numbers, health care benefits, and more—to babies born in the four states included in Washington’s suit.

Wing Luke Civil Rights Division Chief Colleen Melody, Assistant Attorneys General Lane Polozola, Daniel Jeon and Alyson Dimmitt Gnam, and Paralegals Tiffany Jennings and Anna Alfonso are handling the case for Washington.

History of birthright citizenship

The first sentence of Section 1 of the 14^th Amendment — one of a trio of post-Civil War “Reconstruction Amendments” to the Constitution — is clear: “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.”

This provision, known as the Citizenship Clause, grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of the citizenship status of their parents.

Three decades after its adoption in 1868, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 14^th Amendment’s promise of birthright citizenship in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.

Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1873 to Chinese parents living in the U.S. His parents were not U.S. citizens and returned to China in 1890. After a trip to China to visit his parents in 1895, Wong Kim Ark was denied re-entry into the United States and told he was not a U.S. citizen.

In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that he was, in fact, a U.S. citizen under the “clear words and manifest intent” of the 14^th Amendment.

“Citizenship by birth is established by the mere fact of birth under the circumstances defined in the Constitution,” the majority wrote. “Every person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, becomes at once a citizen of the United States, and needs no naturalization.”

The court also clarified who is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States: “Every citizen or subject of another country, while domiciled here, is within the allegiance and the protection, and consequently subject to the jurisdiction, of the United States.” The only exceptions, the court ruled, were foreign nationals in the U.S. in a diplomatic capacity, and those born to non-citizens in U.S. territories under hostile control.

Additionally, the Executive Branch of the federal government has accepted and endorsed this understanding of the Citizenship Clause for more than a century. In 1995, when Congress considered proposed legislation that would have denied citizenship to certain children born in the U.S. based on their parents’ immigration or citizenship status, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel called the proposal “unquestionably unconstitutional.”

Preparing for Trump’s second term

For the past year, the Attorney General’s Office has been preparing for a second Trump presidency.

Specifically, attorneys in the office tracked Trump’s statements on the campaign trail. They have gone line by line through Project 2025 — a nearly 1,000-page policy playbook authored by some of the president’s closest allies — to prepare for potential harms that could arise if Trump tries to enact any of those policies. The office has also been working with other state attorneys general, their legal teams and legal directors at key organizations in Washington to coordinate resources.

Ending birthright citizenship “on Day One” of his presidency is among a number of campaign promises Trump made during the 2024 election. Other plans outlined in Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda 47 include restrictions on reproductive rights, health care access and environmental protections. 

Between 2017 and 2021, during the President Trump’s first term, the Attorney General’s Office defeated 55 illegal actions or policies from President Trump and his administration. Washington led 36 of those cases, including the challenge to Trump’s Muslim travel ban.

In a post-election press conference in November, Brown stressed that Washington is seen as a leader nationally for taking on this work. That will continue.

“My commitment to this office and to all the men and women is we will be prepared,” Brown said. “We will do everything in our power to defend the rights of Washingtonians.”

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Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

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