The Logoff: Trump attacks birthright citizenship

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Good evening, and welcome to the first edition of The Logoff — the newsletter that gives you the Trump news you need so that you can log off and get back to the rest of your life.

There’s so much going on today, but I want to focus on the legal fight over birthright citizenship, as its outcome will affect millions of people.

What did the law say before Trump? Under the Constitution (the 14th Amendment, to be precise), almost everyone born on US soil automatically becomes a US citizen, no matter their parents’ immigration status. Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday that would change that: It would deny automatic citizenship to babies born to parents who are both immigrants in cases where neither parent is a naturalized citizen or legal permanent resident. (My colleague Ian Millhiser has more details here.)

So what happened today? Eighteen states filed a federal lawsuit to block the order from taking effect, and the case seems destined to go all the way to the Supreme Court. There, most legal observers expect the justices to side with the states (and with 125 years of legal precedent) that birthright citizenship is constitutional. There are no guarantees (particularly not with this Court) but it’s likely that this executive order is destined for failure.

So where does this leave us? Barring something unexpected, birthright citizenship will likely survive. You should pay attention for two reasons: First, there’s always a chance of a shock result in court. And second, the order itself is an indication of how thoroughly Trump has dragged once outlandish ideas into the GOP mainstream.

What’s the larger lesson here? Trump opened his presidency with a barrage of policy changes, and nowhere were the changes bigger than on immigration. Almost all of it will be challenged. Some orders will survive; others will be the subject of lengthy legal battles. Where those battles end up will determine whether Trump succeeds in a radical overhaul of the immigration system — or just a series of changes to it. And it’ll be a long time before we have final answers.

And with that, it’s time to log off …

This is a crimson-rumped toucanet. And birds like these are a big reason why Colombia has a thriving ecotourism industry. My colleague Benji Jones wrote all about it here.