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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A petition opposing President Donald Trump's attempt to restrict birthright citizenship has garnered over 100,000 signatures.
The MoveOn petition is calling on Congress to reject any federal court ruling or legislation that overturns birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that judges lack the authority to issue nationwide injunctions blocking Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship from taking effect.
If Congress votes on the order, they "must resoundingly reject this brazen attack on our Constitution and its discriminatory agenda that threatens the very fabric of America," the petition states.
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Why It Matters
Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen. The right was enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution soon after the Civil War.
Trump signed an executive order to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily shortly on his first day back in office on January 20.
Three federal judges issued nationwide injunctions blocking the order from taking effect, prompting the Trump administration to file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court to narrow the scope of the orders.
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that individual federal judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions. The outcome was a win for the president, who has complained about judges hindering his agenda. However, the court's conservative majority stopped short of allowing Trump's executive order to take immediate effect nationwide, leaving its fate unclear.
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What To Know
The Supreme Court "gave the green light for Trump to end birthright citizenship," the MoveOn petition states.
"By allowing Trump's EO to end birthright citizenship to be decided by the federal courts in select parts of the country, SCOTUS has greenlit creating a two-tiered system of citizenship."
It adds that ultimately federal courts "will have to rule on birthright citizenship, and if they rule to overturn it, it will be up to Congress to block these unconstitutional grabs at our rights."
It urges people to add their names to "protect birthright citizenship and demand that Congress, state and local elected leadership, and the courts fight back against this blatantly unconstitutional executive order!"
As of Thursday morning, the petition has more than 110,800 signatures.
What People Are Saying
MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich said in a statement provided to Newsweek: "This is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to undermine core American freedoms and target specific communities, who are the fabric and lifeblood of our country. While the Supreme Court bends to the will of Trump, Congress still has the power to protect the people who have called our country home for their entire lives."
The MoveOn petition states: "Congress must take action and refuse to concede to Trump's assault on our Constitution. Re-litigating the question of who gets to be a citizen is just another attempt by Trump to divide us and further advance a discriminatory America."
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social after the Supreme Court's ruling: "GIANT WIN in the United States Supreme Court! Even the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard. It had to do with the babies of slaves (same year!), not the SCAMMING of our Immigration process."
What Happens Next
The Supreme Court's ruling sends cases challenging Trump's birthright citizenship order back to the lower courts, where judges will have to decide how to tailor their orders to comply with the High Court's ruling.
The executive order remains blocked for at least 30 days, giving lower courts and parties time to determine next steps, but it could result in a patchwork of rules that may differ between the 22 states that sued over the order and the rest of the country.
The order still faces challenges, as within hours of the ruling, two class-action suits were filed in Maryland and New Hampshire seeking to block Trump's order.
While the Supreme Court did not address the merits of Trump's bid to enforce his executive order on birthright citizenship, Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters that the Trump administration is "very confident" that the Court will ultimately side with it on the merits of the case.
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