New York Attorney General Letitia James commented Friday on the Supreme Court’s decision to partially stay the preliminary injunctions on President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, sending the issue back to lower courts.
“Today’s decision is a profound and disappointing setback for the families who now face tremendous uncertainty and danger, for the millions of people who rely on the courts to protect their constitutional rights, and for the fundamental rule of law,” James’ statement, which the attorney general released hours after the decision’s publication, reads. “Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen of this country, no matter which state they are born in. This has been the law of the land for more than a century.”
The decision, approved by the court 6-3, hinders the ability of lower federal courts to block the president’s executive orders. The justices did not directly rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship, which has been the law of the land since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The decision throws into question the right of individuals born in the United States to automatically gain citizenship regardless of the citizenship status of their parents.
James filed a lawsuit in January alongside 18 other states against the Trump administration to block his executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the lawsuit’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which was then upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Friday’s ruling stayed the preliminary injunction, sending the issue back to the lower courts for a narrower order.
“This is not over,” James wrote. “While I am confident that our case defending birthright citizenship will ultimately prevail, my heart breaks for the families whose lives may be upended by the uncertainty of this decision. My fellow attorneys general and I will continue to defend the Constitution and the common values that unite us.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, joined Trump at a Friday press conference after the ruling became public.
“Americans are finally getting what they voted for,” Bondi said.
Writing the dissent for the court’s three liberal justices, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the ruling “disregards basic principles of equity as well as the long history of injunctive relief granted to nonparties.”
“The gamesmanship in this request is apparent and the Government makes no attempt to hide it,” Sotomayor wrote. “Yet, shamefully, this Court plays along.”
