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‘Morning Joe’ Panelist Says Trump Could Be ‘Proved Right’ On Birthright Citizenship Issue

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Former U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg said Thursday that President Donald Trump could be “proved right” on the legality of eliminating birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

The Supreme Court is set to deliberate Trump’s executive order signed Jan. 20, which does not grant birthright citizenship to children born to parents who are unlawfully in the U.S. Rosenberg said that the Supreme Court could possibly rule in Trump’s favor and allow the executive order to proceed.

“It could change. Might President Trump be proved right? He might be proved right,” Rosenberg said. “But it is absolutely distinctly the minority view.”

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If the nine justices rule in Trump’s favor, the justices will overturn United States v. Wong Kim Ark, an 1898 ruling that affirmed that the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment applies to every person born on U.S. soil, Rosenberg said.

The Supreme Court will decide whether district judges have the power to block an order issued by the executive branch. Several judges have issued orders blocking the order from taking effect, including Reagan-appointed U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, who called the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional” in a Jan. 23 ruling.

Over 20 Democrat-led states legally challenged the executive order, as did immigrant advocacy groups.

The day after Trump signed the executive order, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Illinois filed a multi-state lawsuit to halt the new policy. A separate lawsuit filed by Democrat New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin noted that over 153,000 children were born to two noncitizen parents in 2022.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on March 13 to lift the orders blocking the birthright citizenship policy from taking effect. The court agreed to take the case in an April 17 decision.

Federal judges have interfered in other policies enacted by Trump, including ending a Biden-era program that allowed a half-a-million foreign nationals into the U.S. and his efforts to require proof of citizenship in order to vote in U.S. elections.