Attorney General Bonta Issues Statement Ahead of Hearing on President Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a statement ahead of a hearing on the state’s motion for a preliminary injunction in its challenge to President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

“Within hours of taking office, President Trump showed his blatant disregard for the limits of his authority under the law,” said Attorney General Bonta. “With his astonishing executive order to end birthright citizenship, the President is attempting to override the Fourteenth Amendment and unilaterally amend the U.S. Constitution. We’re in court to make the case for a preliminary injunction to prevent this order from taking effect while litigation proceeds. As the People’s Attorney, I am committed to ensuring the full rights of American-born children are upheld and respected.” 

Background

In January 2025, Attorney General Bonta co-led a coalition of 18 state attorneys general and the City and County of San Francisco in filing a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump Administration’s unprecedented executive order, arguing that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; violates Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and upends more than 125 years of Supreme Court precedent.

President Trump’s executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” attempts to declare that birthright citizenship does not extend to any child born in the United States whose mother is unlawfully present or lawfully present on a temporary basis and whose father is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. On this basis, all federal agencies were directed to treat these children as ineligible for any privilege, right, or benefit that is reserved by law to individuals that are U.S. citizens.

If allowed to stand, the executive order would strip tens of thousands of children born each year, including an estimated 24,500 in California, of their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as rightful citizens, with all its benefits and privileges. These children would lose their most basic rights and be forced to live under the threat of deportation. They would also lose their right to work, vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices. 

This executive order would also result in cuts to federal funding, directly harming California and other states who rely on such funding to provide essential services to the most vulnerable children living within their borders. This includes services like basic healthcare access for low-income children, foster care services for neglected and abused kids, and early interventions for infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities. In addition, states would be required — on little notice and at considerable expense — to immediately begin modifying their operation and administration of these benefits programs to account for this change by February 19, when the order goes into effect.

The states’ motion for a preliminary injunction will be heard at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET tomorrow, Friday, February 7, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. A link to the states’ reply in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction can be found here.