Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced Friday that she is co-leading a coalition of 24 states backing President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants and so-called “birth tourists.” The policy was issued on President Trump’s first day in office and seeks to deny automatically awarding U.S. citizenship to children born to noncitizens in the country unlawfully or temporarily. Several U.S. district court judges blocked the order, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that those courts had overstepped their authority and allowed the order to move forward. The Trump administration is seeking a Supreme Court ruling on the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment and whether it confers citizenship solely on a child born in the United States, regardless of the child’s parents’ legal status. Bird says, “The Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to reward people for breaking the law. That’s why I’m defending President Trump’s executive order to close the birthright citizenship loophole and restore the Fourteenth Amendment’s original intent. I’m grateful to the other States that joined us in defending President Trump’s executive order that removes this dangerous incentive for illegal immigration.” Bird, along with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, penned the brief that was joined by 22 other state attorneys general. A link to the 37-page brief is included below.
______