22 US states file lawsuit to halt birthright citizenship due to Trump’s executive order

Democratic-led states and civil rights groups filed a slew of lawsuits challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to roll back birthright citizenship on Tuesday in an early bid by his opponents to block his agenda in court, Reuters writes.

After his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump, a Republican, ordered U.S. agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the U.S. if neither their mother or father is a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident.

Twenty-two Democratic-led states along with the District of Columbia and city of San Francisco filed a pair of lawsuits in federal courts in Boston and Seattle asserting Trump had violated the U.S. Constitution.

Two similar cases were filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, immigrant organizations and an expectant mother in the hours after Trump signed the executive order, kicking off the first major court fight of his administration.