WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement after the Supreme Court ruled against district courts’ nationwide preliminary injunctions blocking the Trump Administration’s executive order purporting to end birthright citizenship in Trump v. CASA:
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“The Supreme Court just issued a devastating blow to the separation of powers that is enshrined in our Constitution. Federal judges in multiple states have blocked the President’s order purporting to end birthright citizenship—including judges appointed by Republican presidents. And three separate appeals courts have refused to lift these injunctions. By issuing this ruling, the Supreme Court is stating that courts cannot block even the most lawless actions of the Trump Administration on a nationwide basis.
“With this decision, millions of children could lose their fundamental rights while their lawyers and the courts race to protect them. Our Constitution clearly states that if you are born in the United States, you are a citizen. President Trump’s unconstitutional attempt to end birthright citizenship would unlawfully deprive American children of their citizenship. With today’s ruling, a guarantee enshrined in our Constitution will be unnecessarily put in doubt.
“The Supreme Court is playing procedural games with the most fundamental right explicitly protected by our Constitution, the right of citizenship.”
