22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship

22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown speaks during a news conference announcing that Washington will join a federal lawsuit to challenge President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, in Seattle. (AP)
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Updated 23 January 2025
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22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship

22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship
  • The White House said it’s ready to face the states in court and called the lawsuits “nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance”

Attorneys general from 22 states sued Tuesday to block President Donald Trump’s move to end a century-old immigration practice known as birthright citizenship guaranteeing that US-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 amid what is likely to be a lengthy legal battle over the president’s immigration policies and a constitutional right to citizenship.
The Democratic attorneys general and immigrant rights advocates say the question of birthright citizenship is settled law and that while presidents have broad authority, they are not kings.
“The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence, period,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said.
The White House said it’s ready to face the states in court and called the lawsuits “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 US 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.”
What is birthright citizenship?
At issue in these cases is the right to citizenship granted to anyone born in the US, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. People 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 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.
The US is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship — the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil” — is applied. Most are in the Americas, and Canada and Mexico are among them. Most other countries confer citizenship based on whether at least one parent — jus sanguinis, or “right of blood” — is a citizen, or have a modified form of birthright citizenship that may restrict automatic citizenship to children of parents who are on their territory legally.
What does Trump’s order say?
Trump’s order questions that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship automatically to anyone born in the United States.
Ratified in 1868 in in the aftermath of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment 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 asserts that the children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. It excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not US citizens or lawful permanent residents, and 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.
It’s not clear whether the order would retroactively affect birthright citizens. It says that federal agencies “shall” not issue citizenship documents to the people it excludes or accept other documents from states or local governments.
What is the history of the issue?
The 14th Amendment did not always guarantee birthright citizenship to all US-born people. Congress did not authorize citizenship for all Native Americans born in the United States until 1924.
In 1898 an important birthright citizenship case unfolded in the US Supreme Court. The court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a US citizen because he was born in the country. After a trip abroad, he had faced denied reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he wasn’t a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
But some advocates of immigration restrictions have argued that while the case clearly applied to children born to parents who are both legal immigrants, it’s less clear whether it applies to children born to parents without legal status.
The issue of birthright citizenship arose in Arizona — one of the states suing to block Trump’s order — during 2011 when Republican lawmakers considered a bill that would have challenged automatic birthright citizenship. Supporters said then that the goal wasn’t to get every state in the nation to enact such a law, but rather to bring the dispute to the courts. The bill never made it out of the Legislature.
What has the reaction to Trump’s order been?
In addition to the states, the District of Columbia and San Francisco, immigrant rights groups are also suing to stop Trump’s order.
Chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts along with other immigrant rights advocates filed a suit in New Hampshire federal court.
The suit asks the court to find the order to be unconstitutional. It highlights the case of a woman identified as “Carmen,” who is pregnant but is not a citizen. The lawsuit says she has lived in the United States for more than 15 years and has a pending visa application that could lead to permanent status. She has no other immigration status, and the father of her expected child has no immigration status either, the suit says.
“Stripping children of the ‘priceless treasure’ of citizenship is a grave injury,” the suit says. “It denies them the full membership in US society to which they are entitled.”
In addition to New Jersey and the two cities, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the lawsuit to stop the order.
Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington filed a separate suit in federal court challenging Trump’s order as well.


DR Congo conflict advances as UN warns of regional escalation

DR Congo conflict advances as UN warns of regional escalation
Updated 2 sec ago
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DR Congo conflict advances as UN warns of regional escalation

DR Congo conflict advances as UN warns of regional escalation
M23 and Rwandan troops seized the city of Goma last week and are now pushing into the neighboring South Kivu province
A Swiss NGO said three local staff were killed in the area this week

BUKAVU, DR Congo: The Rwanda-backed M23 armed group was threatening another key town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday as the United Nations warned that the risk of violence spreading regionally had “never been higher.”
M23 and Rwandan troops seized the city of Goma last week and are now pushing into the neighboring South Kivu province.
Thousands have died and huge numbers displaced as they have overtaken swathes of the mineral-rich region, routing DRC troops and their allies in the latest episode of decades-long turmoil in eastern DRC.
Congolese forces were bracing for an assault on the town of Kavumu, which hosts an airport critical to supplying its troops, according to security, humanitarian and local sources.
Kavumu is the last barrier before the South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu on the Rwandan border, where residents were also on edge.
“We see some people starting to flee,” resident Aganze Byamungu told AFP.
A local who spoke on condition of anonymity said shops were barricading their fronts and emptying storerooms for fear of looting, while schools and universities suspended classes.
“The border with Rwanda is open but almost impassable because of the number of people trying to cross. It’s total chaos,” they added.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi are due to attend a summit in Tanzania on Saturday as regional powers try to defuse the crisis.
The UN Human Rights Council met in Geneva on Friday to decide on investigating abuses committed in the conflict.
UN rights chief Volker Turk warned “the risk of violence escalating throughout the sub-region has never been higher.
“If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” he added.
Turk said nearly 3,000 people had been confirmed killed and 2,880 injured since M23 entered Goma on January 26, and that final tolls would likely be much higher.
He also said his team is “currently verifying multiple allegations of rape, gang rape and sexual slavery.”
Also on Friday, a Swiss NGO said three local staff were killed in the area this week.
In Goma, where the M23 has already installed its own mayor and authorities, the group convened tens of thousands of people on Thursday for a public meeting of the River Congo Alliance, a political-military coalition that includes the M23.
The head of the alliance, Corneille Nangaa, told the crowd that the group wants to “liberate all of the Congo.”
Young people at the meeting in the city’s packed stadium chanted “Go to Kinshasa!,” the DRC’s capital on the other side of the vast country, which is roughly the size of Western Europe.
The DRC issued an international arrest warrant for Nangaa on Wednesday.
Since the M23 resurfaced in late 2021, the DRC army, which has a reputation for poor training and corruption, has been forced into multiple retreats.
The offensive has raised fears of regional war, given that several countries are engaged in supporting DRC militarily, including South Africa, Burundi and Malawi.
Previous peace talks hosted by Angola and Kenya have failed.
The latest peace summit in Tanzania brings together the eight-country East African Community and 16-member South African Development Community.
It was set to start with a ministerial meeting on Friday, before the arrival of Kagame, Tshisekedi and other regional leaders on Saturday.
A UN expert report said last year that Rwanda has “de facto” control over the M23, alongside some 4,000 of its own troops in the conflict zone.
The report also accused Kigali of profiting from smuggling minerals from the DRC — particularly coltan used in phones and laptops, as well as gold.
Rwanda denies direct involvement and accuses the DRC of sheltering the FDLR, an armed group created by ethnic Hutus who massacred Tutsis during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Russia says it has taken control of city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine

Russia says it has taken control of city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine
Updated 7 min 40 sec ago
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Russia says it has taken control of city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine

Russia says it has taken control of city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine
  • Russia calls the city by its Soviet-era name of Dzerzhynsk

MOSCOW: Russian forces have taken control of the city of Toretsk in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield report.
Russia calls the city by its Soviet-era name of Dzerzhynsk and says Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region is now part of Russia, an assertion which Kyiv rejects.


Trump condemned for ICC sanctions over Israel, US probes

Trump condemned for ICC sanctions over Israel, US probes
Updated 15 min ago
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Trump condemned for ICC sanctions over Israel, US probes

Trump condemned for ICC sanctions over Israel, US probes
  • The sanctions could impact the court’s technical and IT operations, including evidence gathering
  • There are fears victims of alleged atrocities may hesitate to come forward

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court slammed sanctions Friday slapped by US President Donald Trump over its probes targeting America and Israel and pledged to press on with its aim to fight for “justice and hope” around the world.
The United Nations and the European Union also urged Trump on Friday to reverse the decision ordering asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their family members, along with anyone deemed to have helped the court’s investigations.
The sanctions could impact the court’s technical and IT operations, including evidence gathering. There are fears victims of alleged atrocities may hesitate to come forward.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday saying the court in The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held talks with the US president on Tuesday.
The ICC said the move sought to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.”
“The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world,” it said.
The United Nations said it deeply regretted Trump’s decision and urged him to reverse the move.
“The court should be fully able to undertake its independent work — where a state is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution,” UN human rights office OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told AFP in an email.
“The rule of law remains essential to our collective peace and security. Seeking accountability globally makes the world a safer place for everyone.”
Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the EU’s 27 member states, wrote on X that the move “undermines the international criminal justice system.”
The European Commission separately expressed “regret,” stressing the ICC’s “key importance in upholding international criminal justice and the fight against impunity.”
The executive order risks “affecting ongoing investigations and proceedings, including as regards Ukraine, impacting years of efforts to ensure accountability around the world,” said a commission spokesman.
The names of the individuals affected by the sanctions were not immediately released, but previous US sanctions under Trump had targeted the court’s prosecutor.
Trump’s order said the tribunal had engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by US service members in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.
Israel’s foreign minister applauded Trump, calling the court’s actions against Israel illegitimate.
“I strongly commend @POTUS President Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the so-called ‘international criminal court’,” Gideon Saar wrote on X, adding that the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis.”
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.
Following a request by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, judges issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif — whom Israel says is dead.
The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare during the Gaza war, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu has accused the court of anti-Semitism.
During his first term, Trump imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban on the ICC’s then prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials and staff in 2020.
His administration made the move after Gambian-born Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against US soldiers in Afghanistan.
While his order at the time did not name Israel, Trump administration officials said they were also angered by Bensouda’s opening of a probe into the situation in the Palestinian territories in 2019.
President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions soon after taking office in 2021.
Prosecutor Khan later effectively dropped the US from the Afghan investigation and focused on the Taliban instead.
Biden strongly condemned the “outrageous” warrant against Netanyahu in November.


Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair features English translations of Kingdom’s literature

Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair features English translations of Kingdom’s literature
Updated 07 February 2025
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Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair features English translations of Kingdom’s literature

Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair features English translations of Kingdom’s literature
  • India’s second-oldest book fair attracts 2,000 exhibitors from 40 countries
  • Saudi Arabia was guest of honor of the New Delhi World Book Fair in 2024

New Delhi: Saudi Arabia’s exhibition at the New Delhi World Book Fair is bringing the Kingdom’s literature closer to the Indian audience with a display of its English-language translations under the flagship Tarjim initiative.

Inaugurated in 1972, the fair in the Indian capital is the country’s second oldest after the Kolkata Book Fair.

Organized by the National Book Trust of India, the event started on Feb. 1 at the Pragati Maidan convention center and will run through Feb. 9. It is attended by 2,000 exhibitors from about 40 countries.

Saudi Arabia — which in 2024 was guest of honor of the book fair — this year is represented by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, a government agency regulating and managing literature in the Kingdom.

The part of the exhibition that has drawn significant interest among Indians comprises English translations of Arabic works published under the Tarjim program, which was launched in 2020 to promote international cultural outreach under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The books displayed at the New Delhi fair included classics, fiction, and short stories.

Mona Lisa, a Delhi-based lawyer who visited the Saudi pavilion, appreciated the exhibition as a way to remove linguistic barriers and help Indians grasp the Kingdom’s culture.

“It’s nice to know that Saudi Arabia is trying to bridge the gap in terms of language,” she told Arab News.

“It’s a nice move by Saudi Arabia ... by the way of literature we’ll be able to know the culture, the people better. It’s always good to know something that you didn’t know before. It’s good to know the culture as well. And I’m looking forward to seeing much more.”

Another visitor, Zohra Fatima, was drawn especially to short fiction stories as a way to imagine and understand life in Saudi Arabia.

“It seems very interesting ... to know deep inside their culture, one has to read this kind of tale,” she said.

Besides the translations, Saudi Arabia’s pavilion also presented the country’s national bibliography — a catalog of all publications, including books, articles, and reports, produced in the Kingdom.

“National bibliography is basically a list of books published in a particular country,” said Dr. Prathasari Das, library information officer at the National Library of India, who was studying the works displayed at the exhibition.

“It is very nice to see this bibliography here to introduce the print culture — the print output in Saudi Arabia — to India ... Books are those mediums which connect different cultures around the world, so it’s like a window. I think that it will be a great help or great opportunity for Indians to see and mingle with this culture.”

For some, like Shivani Nagar, a French linguistics student in New Delhi, visiting the pavilion was not only about literature, but also the Arabic language.

“I met the employees here and they taught me some words in Arabic, and I found it really interesting and, in my mind, I’m really hoping to learn more,” she said.

“It’s very good that they are putting English books so that I can learn about Arab culture in English, in my language ... (and) I can know about the culture, and (then) I can turn my goal to learning Arabic.”

 


Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair showcases English translations of Kingdom’s literature

Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair showcases English translations of Kingdom’s literature
Updated 07 February 2025
Follow

Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair showcases English translations of Kingdom’s literature

Saudi pavilion at Delhi book fair showcases English translations of Kingdom’s literature
  • India’s second-oldest book fair is attended by 2,000 exhibitors from 40 countries
  • Saudi Arabia was guest of honor of the New Delhi World Book Fair in 2024

NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia’s exhibition at the New Delhi World Book Fair is bringing the Kingdom’s literature closer to the Indian audience by showcasing its English-language translations under the flagship Tarjim initiative.

Inaugurated in 1972, the fair in the Indian capital is the country’s second oldest after the Kolkata Book Fair.

Organized by the National Book Trust of India, the event started on Feb. 1 at the Pragati Maidan convention center and will run through Feb. 9. It is attended by 2,000 exhibitors from some 40 countries.

Saudi Arabia — which in 2024 was guest of honor of the book fair — this year is represented by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, a government agency regulating and managing the literature, publishing and translation sectors in the Kingdom.

The part of the exhibition that has drawn significant interest among Indians comprises English translations of Arabic works published under the Tarjim program, which was launched in 2020 to promote international cultural outreach under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The books displayed at the New Delhi fair included classics, fiction, and short stories.

Mona Lisa, a Delhi-based lawyer who came to the venue to visit the Saudi pavilion, appreciated the exhibition as a way to remove linguistic barriers and help Indians grasp the Kingdom’s culture.

“It’s nice to know that Saudi Arabia is trying to bridge the gap in terms of language,” she told Arab News.

“It’s a nice move by Saudi Arabia ... by the way of literature we’ll be able to know the culture, the people better. It’s always good to know something that you didn’t know before. It’s good to know the culture as well. And I’m looking forward to seeing much more.”

Visitors look at archival photos displayed at the Saudi pavilion at the New Delhi World Book Fair, New Delhi, India, Feb. 4, 2025. (AN Photo) 

Another visitor, Zohra Fatima, was drawn especially to short fiction stories as a means to imagine and understand life in Saudi Arabia.

“It seems very interesting ... To know deep inside their culture, one has to read this kind of tales,” she said.

Besides the translations, Saudi Arabia’s pavilion has also presented the country’s national bibliography — a catalog of all publications, including books, articles, and reports, produced within the Kingdom.

“National bibliography is basically a list of books published in a particular country,” said Dr. Prathasari Das, library information officer at the National Library of India, who was studying the works displayed at the exhibition.

“It is very nice to see this bibliography here to introduce the print culture — the print output in Saudi Arabia — to India ... Books are those mediums which connect different cultures around the world, so it’s like a window. I think that it will be a great help or great opportunity for Indians to see and mingle with this culture.”

For some like Shivani Nagar, a French linguistics student in New Delhi, visiting the pavilion was not only about literature, but also the Arabic language.

“I met the employees here and they taught me some words in Arabic, and I found it really interesting and, in my mind, I’m really hoping to learn more,” she said.

“It’s very good that they are putting English books so that I can learn about Arab culture in English, in my language ... (and) I can know about the culture, and (then) I can turn my goal to learning Arabic.”