Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump SLAPPED with MASSIVE LAWSUIT over Executive Order

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

A group of 12 plaintiffs have joined together to file a new federal lawsuit against Trump’s depraved and unconstitutional attack by executive order on newborns and children by declaring those born in this country to parents from another country, “not American”. Michael Popok drills down on the new lawsuit filed in New Hampshire federal court led by the ACLU and NAACP and the Indonesian community, seeking to block the executive order, and how this case will end up at the US Supreme Court in the coming weeks. Get 10% off plus free shipping of your estate plan documents by visiting https://trustandwill.com/LEGALAF Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Donald Trump's depraved and unconstitutional executive order putting newborns in harm's way to deny them birthright citizenship, guaranteed and enshrined in our US Constitution and the 14th Amendment has now been challenged by more than 14 different plaintiffs in a New Hampshire federal court just 24 hours after the executive order was signed led by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Indonesian community in New

Hampshire on behalf of all similarly situated families, mothers who are expecting, mothers who have already given birth to children, all to challenge the executive order as we expected. I've said before and I'll say it again, public interest groups like the American Civil Liberties Union are going to lead the way against Donald Trump. And wait till I show you all the other groups that have arrayed against Donald Trump to bring down this unconstitutional and depraved act. I'm Michael Popock. you're on Legal AFN on the Midas Touch Network.

Let's get to it with the new filing. New filing in the district of New Hampshire, a federal court up there brought by New Hampshire, Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens known as LULAC, and Make the Road New York against Donald Trump, Homeland Security, and everybody else. Now, the argument, which I'm going to read to you, is that, of course, the 14th Amendment, Section 1, is a guarantee that anyone born on U.S. soil is going to be a

U.S. citizen regardless of the immigration status of their parents. Now, Donald Trump's trying to argue that somehow the language in the 14th Amendment that says that the person is subject to the jurisdiction of another country means that because their parents may be undocumented or illegal or awaiting asylum in the case of the Indonesian community, that jeopardizes the status or the recognition of the child, which they with much disdain referred to as anchor babies instead of as US citizens, which is what they are, that that somehow subjects the child to the jurisdiction of another foreign country and therefore makes them not a US citizen.

And Donald Trump goes one step further in his depraved executive order. And he says, if the mother is here legally, but temporarily, like waiting for asylum, like the Indonesian community in New Hampshire, who got here in 2023 and are awaiting asylum status, that if they have babies in the meantime, those babies are not American citizens. It is against a long-standing set of US Supreme Court precedents starting in 1898, and it will be struck down in New Hampshire under this law. Let me read to you from the American Civil Liberties Union press release, and then we'll

get into the 14-page federal filing here that I just got my hands on. Here's what the press release says, immigrant rights groups today sued the Trump administration over its executive order that seeks to strip certain babies born in the United States of their US citizenship. That's a fundamental right that that baby has, and it's being stripped away by Donald Trump by executive order, which to answer the question, no, he cannot do that. In the rock, paper, scissor of executive order versus a constitutional amendment, the constitutional amendment is a rock and at best the executive order is a scissor. The only way you can change a constitutional amendment is through another amendment to

the constitution, which requires a two-thirds vote of both the states in this country and of the House and the Senate, not happening in our blue red environment at present. The only other way is if the Constitution is interpreted differently by the United States Supreme Court. Of course, that's what the MAGA are banking on, that they'll somehow get five votes of the United States Supreme Court to overturn an 1898 precedent, and to find that somehow, children whose mothers are here temporarily through asylum waiting on their status are undocumented,

somehow destroy the birthright citizenship of their babies. This case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, its chapters in New Hampshire and in Maine, and in Massachusetts by the Asian, listen to these groups, the Asian Law Caucus. You're going to hear about them again over the next four years. State Democracy Defenders Fund, Legal Defense Fund, the New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, the League of United Latin American Cities, known as LULAC, and Make the Road New

York. This lawsuit charges the Trump's administration with flouting the Constitution's dictates, congressional intent, and long-standing Supreme Court precedent. Here's the quote from Anthony Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, quote, denying citizenship to U.S. born children is not only unconstitutional, it's also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, which would be the Dred Scott decision, we'll talk about in a minute, by creating a permanent subclass of people

born in the U.S US who are denied full rights as Americans. We will not let this attack on newborns and future generations of Americans go unchallenged. The Trump administration's overreach, and that's going to be a hallmark of the Trump administration over the next four years, which is going to drag them in to federal courts time and time again, is so egregious that we are confident we will ultimately prevail. The press release continues, Birthright citizenship is the principle that every baby born in the United States is a U.S. citizen.

The Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees the citizenship of all children born in the United States with the extremely narrow exception of children of foreign diplomats. Those would be the ones that would be subject to the laws of another jurisdiction, regardless of race, color, or ancestry. Specifically, it states that all persons born or naturalized in the US and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. See, MAGA is relying on and subject to the jurisdiction thereof to argue that the baby is not subject to the jurisdiction thereof because their parents are here illegally or temporarily.

That's not how the law works. That's not how the law in any part of North America works. We recognize what's called jus soli, a Latin French term, which means justice on the soil. You are born here, you are a citizen here. The 14th Amendment, the ACLU continues, was ratified in 1868, overturning the Dred Scott decision that denied black Americans the rights and protections of the U.S. citizenship. That is one of the major black scars, no pun intended, on the United States Supreme Court.

One of their darkest chapters is the Dred Scott decision. In 1898, the United States Supreme Court confirmed in US versus Wong Kim Ark that children born in the United States to immigrant parents were entitled to US citizenship, and the principle has remained undisturbed at constitutional bedrock for over a century. Look, in Wong Kim Ark, he was a child born in America,

in California, in San Francisco, to Chinese parents who were still beholden to the emperor of China. They were Chinese residents that happened to be in the United States. They were not citizens, but they were also already beholden to the emperor of China. But the kid was born here. When he was in his 20s he tried to go to China. On the way back in he was stopped at the border and told he was not an American citizen. And it

went up to the United States Supreme Court and they found that the kid was born on American soil and therefore that's all that mattered. He was an American citizen and of course they let him in. Are you like me and you made some pacts with yourself in the form of a New Year's resolution list? Mine starts with being more present with my wife and daughter even when my podcast work can turn into a real time job. Resolutions can feel daunting,

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Protect what matters most in minutes at trustandwill.com slash legal AF and get 10% off plus free shipping. That's 10% off and free shipping at TrustandWill.com. Let me read to you from the lawsuit, which has been filed under the 14th Amendment. Paragraph 1, page 1. Birthright citizenship embodies America's most fundamental promise that all children born on our soil begin life as full and equal members of our national community, regardless of their parents' origin, status, or circumstances.

This principle has enabled generations of children to pursue their dreams and build a stronger America. The framers of the 14th Amendment. Again, a Reconstruction era post-Civil War amendment that was originally geared for black Americans, newly freed slaves, but now applies to all, specifically enshrined this principle in our Constitution's text to ensure that no one, not even the President, could deny children born in America their

rightful place as citizens. They did so with full knowledge and intent that this would protect the children of immigrants, including those facing discrimination and exclusion. The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, this is section or paragraph three of the complaint, provides that all persons born or naturalized and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens. Then they talk about the Wong Kim Ark case I just told you about, which codified ultimately birthright citizenship by Congress in the

14th Amendment in a statute we call 8 USC, United States Code 1401A. For families across America today, paragraph six of the complaint, birthright citizenship represents the promise that their children can achieve their full potential as Americans. It means children born here can dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs, or even president. Dreams that would be foreclosed if their citizenship were stripped away based on their parent status. Paragraph seven, now flouting the Constitution's dictates,

statutory commands, and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, Trump has issued an executive order, quote, protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship. It actually undermines the value of our patriotism, the bedrock principles, and our citizenship. That order attempts to upend one of the most fundamental American constitutional values by denying citizenship to children born on American soil to a mother who is unlawfully present or temporarily present and a father who is not a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. And these people that have filed, the Indonesian community in New Hampshire, are being impacted by this because the order strips from their children quote the priceless treasure of

citizenship, citing a case for the United States Supreme Court, Fedorenko versus United States. It has four counts. It brings, it talks about the background of the 14th Amendment and how we got here. Talks about the Dred Scott decision. It talks about that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship that applies to everyone that is born on this soil.

And then finally, it talks about the impact on the plaintiffs and all other families out there of stripping away this priceless treasure of citizenship. I mean, just using the Indonesian community as an example, they came here primarily looking for political asylum because they were being killed as ethnic minorities within Indonesia, and they've been relocated to New Hampshire.

So they have children, you know, we're not sterilizing people upon their arrival. And in having children, these people are citizens. They didn't come here to have American citizens, but that was the promise of the 14th Amendment. They, the MAGA call it birthright citizenship and anchor babies. I call it a fundamental guarantee of our constitution

that is being stripped away from newborns, creating subclasses of people in this country. One of these children of the Indonesians in New Hampshire could well be the next president of the United States. Okay? And that's being denied by Donald Trump with a phony executive order, frankly, that he knows is unconstitutional

That he knows will be struck down by the federal courts, but he's doing it anyway to pander to his MAGA base Most of the executive orders are like that I mean not the one that created the pardons that is now literally emptying the jails of all the Gen 6 worst worst criminals and violent offenders and those that attacked and beat and killed and maimed law enforcement. No, that is actually something that works. But this is mere pandering in a mean-spirited fashion. First claim for relief is the 14th Amendment

and all the allegations there. Then under the codification of the 14th Amendment, 8 USC 1401, and then that the executive order violates the Administrative Procedures Act and the like. The prayer for relief, this is the thing that you request the court to declare. The plaintiffs request that the court grant the following relief, declare the executive order unconstitutional and unlawful, preliminarily and permanently enjoin the defendants from enforcing the executive order. unconstitutional and unlawful, preliminarily and permanently enjoined the defendants from enforcing the executive order.

That would be a nationwide ban, require defendants to pay reasonable attorney's fees and costs and grant any other further relief that the court deems just and proper. Now look at the group of people, and I'll read it out to you, that have brought this case because you're gonna see these names again.

You're gonna see these organizations supported by Legal AF and the Midas Touch Network again. You've got the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants' Rights Project out of San Francisco. You've got the chapter in New Hampshire. You've got the Educational and Defense Fund for the NAACP. You've got Norm Eisen, friend of the pod, friend of the channel, bringing it on behalf of State Democracy Defenders Fund, a new fund that was formed to bring cases like this. You've got the Asian Law Caucus, you've got the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and of Massachusetts, all binding, bound together to oppose Donald Trump. I'm going to continue to follow here on the MidasTouch Network. Every major material lawsuit filed against Donald Trump and his executive orders,

the ones that were signed yesterday, the ones that will be signed tomorrow, this is where you want to be. We, practicing lawyers and lawyers, use our analysis, our background to give you opinions founded on reality, founded on research, founded on educated analysis like no other. We formed Legal AF for this moment in time and for this community here on the Midas Touch Network. Hit the free subscribe button here. Follow me, PO-POK Live, 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Join me there, a new podcast, 8 p.m. Eastern Time, here on the Midas Touch Network, and then Legal AF, the YouTube channel.

Now more than ever, we need you there. We're doing stories, we're doing content, every minute, every day about these lawsuits. Legal AF, MTN, for Midas Touch Network. I curate that channel, and now's the time. It's the break glass emergency time. Join us, Legal AF MTN for Midas Touch Network. I curate that channel and now's the time. It's the break glass emergency time. Join us on Legal AF. So, until my next reporting, I'm Michael Popak. In collaboration with the Midas Touch Network, we just launched the Legal AF YouTube channel. Help us build this pro-democracy channel where I'll be curating the top stories,

the intersection of law and politics. Go to YouTube now and free subscribe at Legal AF MTN. That's at Legal AF MTN.