Tennessee Attorney General Files Brief In Support Of Trump’s Order Limiting Birthright Citizenship

Tennessee Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti filed a legal brief in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens.

The executive order, which Trump signed on his first day in office, was swiftly challenged in the courts and has been blocked from going into effect by a second federal judge in response to a lawsuit from CASA and other left-wing organizations.

Skrmetti outlined his opinion in favor of the executive order’s legality in a “friend-of-the-court” brief filed earlier this week, asserting that the Constitution does not guarantee birthright citizenship for those whose parents are present in the United States illegally.

“Contemporaneous sources instead support what common sense suggests: Conferring United States citizenship requires a more meaningful connection than mere presence by happenstance or illegality,” the 18-page brief states. “That connection, evidence repeatedly instructs, was parental domicile. Supreme Court precedent likewise cuts against a mere-presence rule and for a domicile-based rule.”

It goes on to reference previous Supreme Court cases, arguing that birthright citizenship does not apply to those who are subject to the laws of foreign countries. “In 1872, the Court’s decision in the Slaughter-House Cases stated that the Citizenship Clause ‘was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States,’” the brief explains.

Skrmetti also argued that the District Court of Maryland, the federal court handling the case, is not within its rights to prevent the entirety of Trump’s executive order from being implemented.

The cases against Trump’s executive order could potentially reach the Supreme Court, which would then be tasked with clarifying the Constitution’s stance on the controversial issue.

There’s also an effort in Congress to curtail birthright citizenship. Texas Congressman Brian Babin, a Republican from the state’s 36th district, has also proposed legislation that seeks to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens.

“It’s going to have a huge impact on our immigration system because it’s going to close loopholes that exploit birthright citizenship, and discourage illegal immigration and end the misuse of this really, this completely misinterpreted privilege,” Babin explained. “We cannot continue to have this abuse.”