Santa Clara County has joined more than 20 states, including California, in suing President Donald Trump to block an executive order that would end birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are not citizens or are living in the country illegally.
The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Jose on Thursday, comes days after a federal judge in Seattle issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to prevent the executive order from going into effect.
“No president has the power to enact, amend, or repeal statutes, much less the Constitution itself,” County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “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.”
Birthright citizenship ensures that children born on U.S. soil are citizens — regardless of their parents’ legal status. The right was enshrined in the Constitution in 1868 through the 14th amendment. Trump’s executive order would apply to children born after Feb. 19 whose parents are not citizens or living in the country illegally.
“Once again, the county is standing with our community members who are being targeted by the federal administration,” County Executive James Williams said in a news release. “We will not stand idly by while the President tries to unconstitutionally and unilaterally erase the citizenship of millions of American children.”
Santa Clara County’s lawsuit is part of a broader Trump resistance taking shape in California. Attorney General Rob Bonta filed California’s lawsuit against the executive order shortly after Trump signed it on inauguration day. It’s the first salvo from Bonta, who has sworn to protect Californians over the next four years from a president who has threatened severing federal funding to the state. The attorney general said last week that the executive order would deny citizenship to 20,000 children born in California each year.
New Jersey and Massachusetts — both blue states — are leading the lawsuit with California. Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin have also signed on.
In December, state lawmakers held a special session where they authored a bill that would allocate $25 million to Bonta’s Department of Justice for lawsuits against the federal government.
Santa Clara County has taken similar actions, with the Board of Supervisors last month moving $5 million out of the county’s reserves to protect immigrants. The money will be used for legal support to prevent family separations, rapid response efforts, “know your rights” trainings and ensuring that residents have access to county services.
Williams said that it’s the county’s “duty to support our most vulnerable populations.” A news release announcing the lawsuit detailed that the executive order would deny citizenship to the future children of thousands of individuals living in Santa Clara County, including refugees and asylum-seekers who are awaiting their green cards.
Santa Clara County has the largest proportion of immigrants among California’s 58 counties, with more than 40% of residents having been born outside of the U.S.
“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,” said Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who is the daughter of immigrant parents. “We will not allow our most vulnerable children and families, especially our babies, to be scapegoated. We will not render them voiceless.”
