HACKENSACK, N.J. — Residents in Hackensack gathered Tuesday to protest President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

The order impacts future babies born in the United States whose mothers are either in the U.S. on a temporary status, like a student or work visa, or unlawfully in the country.

New Jersey’s attorney general is leading over a dozen states in a federal lawsuit to block Trump’s order, arguing it is unconstitutional.

“It’s an assault on the very text of the Constitution, a right that our nation made sure to codify in the 14th Amendment,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.  

“We have our lives fully established here”

Isela, a 24-year-old from New Jersey, is what’s known as a Dreamer; her parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 2 years old.

Under Trump’s executive order, if Isela were to have a child in the U.S., that baby would not be considered a U.S. citizen.

“I graduated Rutgers a year ago,” she said. “We have our lives fully established here … I don’t know how we would be able to maintain a family.”

Isela joined her neighbors in a rally Tuesday against the Laken Riley Act, which already passed the Senate and is expected to be voted on in the House this week.

The legislation would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain undocumented immigrants who are arrested for burglary or theft, even before conviction.

“That means if I suspect somebody of shoplifting or stealing change at the laundromat when I’m washing my children’s clothes, that I could be subject to indefinite detention,” said Nedia Morsy, deputy director of Make the Road NJ.

Border czar Tom Homan vows migrants who commit crimes will be deported.

“The president has been clear on this, we’re going to concentrate on public safety threats,” he said. “This election proves that the American people support the removal of criminal aliens in this country.”

New Jersey and more than a dozen states said Tuesday they are challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin said Tuesday that he’s leading a group of 18 states, the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco in filing a lawsuit blocking Trump’s order.

“Presidents have broad power but they are not kings,” Platkin said.

Trump’s order would end the policy of automatically granting citizenship to people born in the U.S., a move he said on the campaign trail he would do once in office.

Platkin and immigrants rights advocates point to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that says people born in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens, saying it’s clear that it applies to people whose parents were not legally citizens at the time of their birth.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

President Donald Trump moved to end a decades-old immigration policy known as birthright citizenship when he ordered the cancellation of the constitutional guarantee that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status.

Trump’s roughly 700-word executive order, issued late Monday, amounts to a fulfillment of something he’s talked about during the presidential campaign. But whether it succeeds is far from certain as immigration advocates file lawsuits to block the president.

Here’s a closer look at birthright citizenship, Trump’s executive order and reaction to it:

What is birthright citizenship?

Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. People, for instance, in the United States on a tourist or other visa or in the country illegally can become the parents of a citizen if their child is born here.

It’s been in place for decades and enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, supporters say. But Trump and allies dispute the reading of the amendment and say there need to be tougher standards on becoming a citizen.

What does Trump’s order say?

The order questions that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship automatically to anyone born in the United States.

The 14th Amendment was born in the aftermath of the Civil War and ratified in 1868. It says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump’s order excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; people whose mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents.

It goes on to bar federal agencies from recognizing the citizenship of people in those categories. It takes effect 30 days from Tuesday, on Feb. 19.

❗ Trump declares state of emergency at Southern Border
❗ NJ is home to 2.2 million immigrants
❗ Gov. Murphy declared NJ a ‘sanctuary state’

A showdown is likely between New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and the Trump administration over immigration.

One of President Donald Trump’s first official actions after returning to the White House was to declare an emergency at the U.S. Southern border with Mexico.

It is the first step toward implementing the president’s promised mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Trump has promised to deport up to one-million undocumented immigrants per year and use the U.S. military to accomplish his goal.

New Jersey could end up being a central battle ground between the anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration, and the pro-immigration policies of New Jersey.

New Jersey’s immigrant population

The Migration Policy Institute estimates New Jersey’s immigrant population at 2.2 million people.

That makes New Jersey home to one of the largest immigration populations in the United States.

Of that number, an estimated 475,00 are in the U.S. illegally.

Another 2,600 are children of undocumented parents. They are the so-called “dreamers” and are considered U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment.

President Trump has indicated he could challenge birthright citizenship but eliminating it would likely require a repeal of the 14th Amendment by Congress.

New Jersey: A Sanctuary State

Prior to his re-election to a second term, Murphy vowed to make New Jersey a safe haven for undocumented immigrants.

“We’ll be a sanctuary – not just city – but state,” Murphy proclaimed.

In 2018, Murphy’s then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued the Immigrant Trust Directive.

Under the directive, Murphy banned state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

It also banned local and county jail facilities from housing individuals arrested by immigration agents. The cooperative agreements dated back to the Democratic Bill Clinton administration. In 1996 a law signed by President Clinton allowed local and state law enforcement to partner with the federal government for enforcement of immigration laws.

There have been several republican led efforts to repeal New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive. All have failed.

Democrats in the legislature have introduced a bill that would codify the directive into actual state law, but the bill has been stalled in committee.

What happens now?

Immigrant rights groups have begun holding weekly meetings in an effort to educated migrants about their rights and what to do if immigration agents knock on the door.

Federal law supersedes any state law, but states cannot be compelled to cooperate with immigration agents.

New Jersey cannot, however, prevent teams of immigration agents from moving into the Garden State to round up undocumented individuals.

The recently passed Laken Riley Act would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes.

Where these individuals could be held is still an issue of much debate in New Jersey. Gov. Murphy has banned immigration detention contracts with local and county jails, but that ban is being challenged in court.

Some have speculated the Trump administration could threaten to withhold federal aid to states that refuse to aid immigration agents in their enforcement actions.

Murphy has signaled he is willing to work with President Trump and has asked him to help end New York $9 congestion pricing toll.

“I will never back away from partnering with the Trump Administration where our priorities align,” Murphy said in his State of the State speech last week, “But just as importantly, I will never back down from defending our New Jersey values — if and when they are tested.”

Given Murphy’s and Trump’s vastly different positions on illegal immigration, the issue will surely test the relationship between the Statehouse and the White House.

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