President Donald Trump's executive orders surrounding immigration appear to be headed for some tough legal challenges. 22 states have already filed suit against the Administration's goal to stop the birthright citizenship policy, something likely heading for the U.S. Supreme Court.
What chances do some of these Trump executive orders and new government policies have when it comes to actual legal opinions? University of St. Thomas law professor Virgil Wiebe is an expert on immigration issues and tells the WCCO Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar the executive order targeting birthright citizenship could be short-lived.
"What could very likely happen is that the federal district court would issue a temporary injunction stopping the order, and then the court proceedings go on," Wiebe says. "But the executive order is not in effect."
Wiebe adds Trump is trying to redefine the constitution through his executive order, which is beyond the power of the president. The birthright citizenship policy is tied to the Constitution's 14th Amendment and has already stood up twice in Supreme Court rulings.
"So what this executive order attempts to say is that, children born to undocumented immigrants are non-citizen immigrants," Wiebe explians. "Not only undocumented, but students, anyone here on a temporary Visa. People here on some temporary Visas last for three to six years."
The White House said it’s ready to face the states in court and called the lawsuits filed on Tuesday “nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance.”
“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump,” White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general, said the lawsuit was personal for him.
“The 14th Amendment says what it means, and it means what it says —- if you are born on American soil, you are an American. Period. Full stop,” he said.
“There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.