The lawsuits take aim at a central piece of Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. If allowed to stand, Trump’s order would for the first time deny more than 150,000 children born annually in the United States the right to citizenship, said the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.
“President Trump does not have the authority to take away constitutional rights,” she said in a statement.
Losing out on citizenship would prevent those individuals from having access to federal programs like Medicaid health insurance and, when they become older, from working lawfully or voting, the states say.
“Today’s immediate lawsuit sends a clear message to the Trump administration that we will stand up for our residents and their basic constitutional rights,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
More lawsuits by Democratic-led states and advocacy groups challenging other aspects of Trump’s agenda are expected, with cases already on file challenging the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and an order Trump signed weakening job protections for civil servants.
