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

  • 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.


Ukraine and Europe worry about being sidelined as Trump pushes direct talks with Russia on war’s end

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Ukraine and Europe worry about being sidelined as Trump pushes direct talks with Russia on war’s end

  • European leaders are now looking to recalibrate their approach in the face of the Trump administration’s unfolding Ukraine strategy
  • White House officials on Sunday pushed back against the notion that Europe has been left out of the conversation

A protester holds a sign reading "Ukraine defends Europe, USA doesn't anymore" during a demonstration supporting Ukraine in Munich on February 15, 2025. (AFP)

A protester holds a poster reading "Germany is also being defended in Ukraine right now" during a demonstration supporting Ukraine in Munich on February 15, 2025. (AFP)

Protesters with Ukrainian flags attend a demonstration supporting Ukraine in Munich on February 15, 2025. (AFP)

 

European leaders are now looking to recalibrate their approach in the face of the Trump administration’s unfolding Ukraine strategy

White House officials on Sunday pushed back against the notion that Europe has been left out of the conversation

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s approach to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine has left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried they are being largely sidelined by the new US administration as Washington and Moscow plan direct negotiations.
With the three-year war grinding on, Trump is sending Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and special envoy Steve Witkoff to Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian counterparts, according to a US official who was not authorized to publicly discuss the upcoming diplomatic efforts and spoke on condition of anonymity.
It is unclear whether Ukraine or European officials will be represented in discussions expected to take place in Riyadh in the coming days. The official said the United States sees negotiations as early-stage and fluid, and who ultimately ends up at the table could change.
The outreach comes after comments by top Trump advisers this past week, including Vice President JD Vance, raised new concerns in Kyiv and other European capitals that the Republican administration is intent on quick resolution to the conflict with minimum input from Europe.
“Decades of the old relationship between Europe and America are ending,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyin an address Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. “From now on, things will be different, and Europe needs to adjust to that.”
White House officials on Sunday pushed back against the notion that Europe has been left out of the conversation. Trump spoke by phone in recent days with French President Emmanuel Macron and is expected to consult with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week.

A protester holds a poster reading "Germany is also being defended in Ukraine right now" during a demonstration supporting Ukraine in Munich on February 15, 2025. (AFP)

During his visit to Munich and Paris, Vance held talks with Macron, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte as well as Zelensky.
“Now they may not like some of this sequencing that is going on in these negotiations but I have to push back on this ... notion that they aren’t being consulted,” Waltz told “Fox News Sunday.”
“They absolutely are and at the end of the day, though, this is going to be under President Trump’s leadership that we get this war to an end,’’ Waltz said.
Rubio, who was in Israel on Sunday before heading to Saudi Arabia, said the US is taking a careful approach as it reengages with Moscow after the Biden administration’s clampdown on contacts with the Kremlin following the February 2022 invasion.
Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and the two leaders agreed to begin high-level talks on ending the war. They were initially presented as two-way, but Trump later affirmed that Ukraine would have a seat — though he did not say at what stage.
It was not immediately clear whether any Ukrainians would take part in the upcoming Riyadh talks. A Ukrainian delegation was in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to pave the way for a possible visit by Zelensky, according to Ukraine’s economy minister.
“I think President Trump will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time. But I don’t want to prejudge that,” Rubio said told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“I don’t want to foreclose the opportunity to end a conflict that’s already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and continues every single day to be increasingly a war of attrition on both sides,” he said.
Heather Conley, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Central Europe during Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, said that with Trump’s current approach to Moscow, the US appears to be “seeking to create a new international approach based on a modern-day concert of great powers.”
“As in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it is only for the great powers to decide the fate of nations and to take — either by purchase or force — that which strengthens the great powers’ economic and security interests,” Conley said. “Each of these powers posit claims or coerce countries in their respective regional spheres of influence.”
There is some debate inside the administration about its developing approach to Moscow, with some more in favor of a rapid rapprochement and others wary that Putin is looking to fray the Euro-Atlantic alliance as he aims to reclaim Russian status and wield greater influence on the continent, according to the US official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump said last week that he would like to see Russia rejoin what is now the Group of Seven major economies. Russia was suspended from the G8 after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.
“I’d like to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it’s not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia,” Trump told reporters. “I think Putin would love to be back.”
The anticipated Saudi talks also come amid tension over Trump’s push to get the Ukrainians to agree to give the US access to Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth minerals in exchange for some $66 billion in military aid that Washington has provided Kyiv since the start of the war, as well as future defense assistance.
Zelensky, who met on Friday with Vance and other senior US officials in Munich, said he had directed Ukraine’s minister to not sign off, at least for now.
Zelensky said in an interview the deal as presented by the US was too focused on American interests and did not include security guarantees for Ukraine.
The White House called Zelensky’s decision “short-sighted,” and argued that a rare-earth’s deal would tie Ukraine closer to the United States — something that Moscow doesn’t want to see.
European officials were also left unsettled by some of Vance’s remarks during his five-day visit to Paris and Munich last week in which he lectured them on free speech and illegal migration on the continent. He warned that they risk losing public support if they don’t quickly change course.
Vance also met while in Munich with Alice Weidel, the co-leader and candidate for chancellor of the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party in this month’s election.
Throughout Europe, officials are now looking to recalibrate their approach in the face of the Trump administration’s unfolding Ukraine strategy.
Macron will convene top European countries in Paris on Monday for an emergency “working meeting” to discuss next steps for Ukraine, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Sunday.
“A wind of unity is blowing over Europe, as we perhaps have not felt since the COVID period,” Barrot told public broadcaster France-Info.
 


Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh

Updated 16 February 2025
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Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh

  • Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
  • Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far

VILLACH: The Syrian asylum-seeker suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing rampage in the Austrian town of Villach had sworn allegiance to Daesh and was radicalized online, authorities said on Sunday.
A 14-year-old boy was killed in Saturday afternoon’s attack in the center of Villach and five other people were wounded, three of whom are in intensive care, police said.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told a press conference in Villach that the 23-year-old Syrian man, who was arrested seven minutes after the first call to the police, had been rapidly radicalized on the internet and that the Daesh flag had been found in his apartment.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.

• More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.

Karner, a conservative, told reporters there was sadness and sympathy for the victims, then added: “But in these moments there’s also understandably often anger and rage. Anger at an attacker who randomly stabbed innocent people here in this town.”
Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.
More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, the media section of Daesh’s Afghan branch, Daesh-K, recently circulated a post by Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
The bloodshed in Villach followed the thwarting of a plot in August to carry out a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna by a teenager who had also sworn loyalty to Daesh.

 


Wife of detained Ugandan politician ‘worried’ over hunger strike

Updated 16 February 2025
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Wife of detained Ugandan politician ‘worried’ over hunger strike

  • Besigye was abducted in Kenya in November, and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial

ADDIS ABABA: The wife of detained Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye said on Sunday she was “very worried” about his health, nearly a week after the ex-presidential candidate began a hunger strike.
Besigye, 68, is a leading opponent of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni — in power for nearly 40 years — whom he has unsuccessfully challenged in four elections.
On trial for “threatening national security,” Besigye went on hunger strike on Feb. 10 to protest his detention, with his lawyer describing him as “critically ill.”
“He’s not been eating, he’s only drinking water,” his wife, UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, said on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kizza Besigye, 68, is a leading opponent of the country’s President Yoweri Museveni, whom he has unsuccessfully challenged in four elections.

• On trial for ‘threatening national security,’ Besigye went on hunger strike on Feb. 10 to protest his detention.

“He says it’s his only act of protest at the illegal detention that he’s being put through.”
When Besigye was last seen in public, during a court appearance on Friday, “he looked very frail and dehydrated,” she said.
She added that she was “very worried about his condition now.”
Besigye was abducted in Kenya in November, and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial.
Museveni rejected last month’s Supreme Court ruling that civilians should not be tried in military courts.
Byanyima has previously labelled the trial a “sham.”
“I am in a fight for justice,” she said. “If this happens to him, that he continues to be held illegally, that some trumped-up process is used to convict him, this is not just about him, it’s about the fate of democracy and the rights of Ugandans,” she said.
The UN and several rights organizations have voiced their concern about the suppression of the political opposition in Uganda in the run-up to the 2026 presidential elections.
Rights group Amnesty International branded Besigye’s case a “travesty of justice.”

 


US-Russia talks should not rewrite Europe’s security: Finland

Updated 16 February 2025
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US-Russia talks should not rewrite Europe’s security: Finland

  • The new US administration has warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China

MUNICH: Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Sunday said that talks between the US and Russia over the Ukraine war must not rewrite European security and allow Moscow to establish “spheres of interest.”
Washington blindsided Kyiv and its European backers this week by launching talks on ending Moscow’s three-year invasion in a call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The new US administration has also warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.
The Kremlin has pushed for the negotiations to discuss not just Ukraine but also broader European security.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Washington blindsided Kyiv and its European backers this week by launching talks on ending Moscow’s three-year invasion in a call with Putin.

• The new US administration has warned its NATO allies that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.

That has sparked fears among Washington’s allies that Putin could return to demands he floated prior to the 2022 invasion aimed at limiting NATO’s forces in eastern Europe and US involvement on the continent.
One issue talks “should not discuss is new European security arrangements,” Stubb, whose country shares a 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, told the Munich Security Conference.
“There’s no way we should open the door for this Russian fantasy of a new, indivisible security order, where it can do spheres of interest.”
The stance from the new US administration has sown further concerns in Europe as Trump demands NATO countries spend more on their own defense.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth this week warned that Washington will no longer be primarily focused on the continent’s security and may have to shift forces elsewhere to focus on China.
Stubb insisted that Ukraine’s push to join NATO and the EU should be “non-negotiable,” even after Washington appeared to rule out Kyiv joining the military alliance as part of a peace deal.
Stubb laid out a vision for how negotiations could work — saying that the West should hit Russia with tough sanctions ahead of talks to pile on the pressure.
He said European countries should help support any eventual ceasefire, with the US acting as a “backstop.”

 


Osaka meets Saudi Arabian culture ahead of the 2025 Expo

Updated 16 February 2025
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Osaka meets Saudi Arabian culture ahead of the 2025 Expo

  • Similar cultural showcases are scheduled for several cities across Japan in the coming weeks

TOKYO: To promote the country, its culture and heritage, as well as its pavilion at the Osaka Expo, which opens in April, Saudi Arabia is staging events around the country to give people a taste of life and culture in the Kingdom.

On Saturday and Sunday, Saudi Arabia put on a cultural experience showcasing its heritage in Osaka’s busy Namba district. The event used interactive experiences to help give the local people a taste of the nation’s rich traditions.

Visitors were able to experience Saudi Arabian hospitality and sample traditional food and drink.

The event also highlighted the country’s artistic heritage with displays of intricate handmade items that demonstrated the craftsmanship behind Saudi Arabia’s traditional arts.

A special Immersive VR Experience took guests virtually to the heart of the Arabian Peninsula, allowing them to explore cultural landmarks in a unique way.

In addition, guests were able to try on traditional Saudi attire, while live performances of regional music created a unique Arabian atmosphere.

One attendee described the event as “an unexpected but delightful experience,” adding that the culture felt “warm and welcoming.”

Similar cultural showcases are scheduled for several cities across Japan in the coming weeks. With the Osaka-Kansai Expo approaching, Saudi Arabia is building anticipation for its pavilion, where a similar diverse program of performances, exhibits and cultural showcases will be on display.