Friend –

In a barrage of attacks on immigration on his first day back in office, Donald Trump issued an executive order purporting to revoke birthright citizenship, the 14th Amendment guarantee that every baby born in the United States is a citizen.

The backlash to Trump's executive order was swift. The ACLU, immigrants' rights advocates, and 22 states immediately sued the Trump administration on the grounds that the order violates the Constitution. Within days, a federal judge temporarily blocked the order.

This right is personal for me. I was born in Los Angeles to parents who were Iranian citizens. I returned with my parents to Iran soon after my birth, where I lived until the Iranian revolution. We immigrated to the U.S. when I was nine years old. Even as a young child, I knew I was a U.S. citizen, for which I have always been grateful.

This right is also central to our Constitution and our history as a country. Not only is it unconstitutional to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S., but doing so would create a permanent underclass of people who don't have the full rights granted to every American, including the right to vote, hold a passport, and serve on juries.

We've faced this threat before. Throughout our history, our states and country have withheld citizenship from people of color to reinforce a rigid racial hierarchy. In contrast, birthright citizenship embodies the principle that American citizenship is not defined by race. It is fundamental to our democracy, equality, and fairness.

Abdi Soltani
Pronouns: He, him, his
Executive Director, ACLU of Northern California