Washington AG preparing for a fight over Trump’s citizenship plan

President Donald Trump’s latest idea has Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson preparing for a fight, yet again.

“No matter how much he may want to appeal to the Alt-Right, President Trump can’t alter the Constitution through executive order,” Ferguson said Tuesday. “If he tries, we will immediately take him to court — and defeat him again.”

Trump recently said he is considering changing how citizenship works in the United States, particularly around birthrights. The president told Axios on HBO that he could change the law with an executive order, making it so children born in the country do not have citizenship if their parents aren’t citizens themselves.

The president said: “It’s in the process. It will happen. With an executive order.”

Exclusive: Trump plans to sign an executive order terminating birthright citizenship, he said yesterday in an exclusive interview for “Axios on HBO.” pic.twitter.com/D2RE4N4OrJ

— Axios (@axios) October 30, 2018

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

But Trump said that law has to change. He told Axios that “It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment (to change this). Guess what? You don’t … We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits.”

Jamie Dupree with Cox Media Group Washington told KIRO 7 that a president cannot change the law with an executive order. The order would likely be challenged in court if Trump ever signed it.

It appears Attorney General Ferguson is prepared to do just that. The AG’s office says that Washington has filed 32 lawsuits against the Trump Administration since the president took office. Washington has won 14 of those cases, others are in the process. The AG’s office further notes that no court has ruled against the merits of Ferguson’s lawsuits against Trump.

Seattle responds

In the wake of news over Trump’s intentions, Seattle officials released the following statements.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan:

President Trump’s new claim that he can unilaterally end the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship is morally and legally bankrupt. The President does not have the power to erase, revoke or rewrite our Constitution or the rights it guarantees.

The President continues to stoke fear of our immigrant and refugee neighbors. We have the law and justice on our side, and Seattle will continue to stand with all our neighbors in the face of these illegal and unconstitutional proposals.

Seattle Councilmember Lorena González:

In this Washington, the rule of law is still respected. This President’s intent to unilaterally run afoul of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which grants U.S. citizenship as a birthright for all who are born in the country and its states, is designed to incite his white nationalist base and cannot be tolerated by the people of Seattle.

The double-speak from Trump is predictable:  The President vowed on January 20th, 2017 to preserve, protect, and defend the U.S. Constitution yet he actively works to undermine it. This President willfully misuses his office to promote hate, xenophobia, and nationalism over the values that helped guide the birth of this country: self-determination, equality, and justice. This is a ‘dog whistle’ of coded, racist language intended to incite his base while threatening millions of natural-born Americans with having their citizenship taken away upon birth.  This Executive Order cannot go unchecked.

The motto of our country is e pluribus unum; out of many: one. It is pluralism that helped us create a system of checks and balances, grow freedom as a universal value, and ensure there is a space for all of us and our pursuit of happiness. I call upon the great people of Seattle and Washington state to contact your Congressional leaders and call upon each of them to protect our U.S. Constitution to the fullest extent possible under the law.

KIRO 7 contributed to this report.

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