Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed a nationwide injunction in a lawsuit he filed challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship.

“No president can arbitrarily pick and choose which children born in the United States are allowed to be citizens of this country. Birthright citizenship has been enshrined in our Constitution in unambiguous language for more than 150 years, and no president has the authority to override the Constitution. The district court could not have been more right in February when it deemed the president’s order as being ‘blatantly unconstitutional.’

 “The universal injunction was both necessary and appropriate, and I appreciate the 9th Circuit’s decision. As a birthright citizen, I will not stop fighting to protect the constitutionally-protected right to citizenship that is unquestionably guaranteed to all children born in this country to parents who are not yet naturalized citizens.”

Joining Attorney General Raoul in filing the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Arizona, Oregon and Washington.