Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed an amicus brief Friday with the United States Supreme Court in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for the children of non-citizens and illegal immigrants.
The brief supports Trump’s application to stay multiple nationwide preliminary injunctions issued by federal district courts, which have temporarily blocked the enforcement of the order titled Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. Skrmetti’s filing argues that courts should interpret the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment based on its “original public meaning,” and cautions against judicial overreach that, he says, undermines the constitutional balance of powers.
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“Courts are empowered by the Constitution to resolve cases and controversies, not to issue sweeping policy proclamations or manage the executive branch,” Attorney General Skrmetti said in a statement. “Undermining the sovereignty of the American people through judicial overreach threatens to alienate the people from our constitutional system and thereby cause grievous harm to liberty and public order.”
Trump’s executive order challenges the longstanding interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which has been widely understood to grant U.S. citizenship to nearly all individuals born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The clause states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Trump’s order argues that children born to non-citizens or illegal immigrants are not truly “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to automatic citizenship.
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Three federal judges issued nationwide injunctions in early March, halting enforcement of the order while legal challenges proceed. The Trump administration is now asking the Supreme Court to lift those injunctions and allow the order to take effect during the legal review process.
In his 25-page brief, Skrmetti underscores the need for judicial restraint, urging the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of the Citizenship Clause for the first time in modern history. He cites historical documents from the Reconstruction Era to argue that the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment did not intend to grant citizenship to the children of foreign nationals residing in the country illegally.
Skrmetti also criticized the recent rise of nationwide injunctions issued by lower courts, which he argues disrupt the separation of powers and impose sweeping national policies from the bench. He cited past examples of court-ordered policies negatively affecting Tennessee and other states, particularly on immigration and education.
“Our system depends on checks and balances,” Skrmetti said. “Each branch of government, at both the federal and state levels, is by design intended to push back against overreach by the other branches.”
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According to the brief, Tennessee and other interior states have borne the brunt of rising immigration levels, which have strained resources and increased public safety concerns. Citing U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Skrmetti notes that more than nine million illegal immigrants have entered the country in recent years, with many settling in non-border states.
Skrmetti argues that these trends are not only unsustainable but also exacerbated by a broad interpretation of the Citizenship Clause that creates incentives for illegal border crossings.
The Supreme Court has yet to announce whether it will take up the case or grant Trump’s request to lift the injunctions. If the Court agrees to hear the case, it could set a historic precedent on the meaning of birthright citizenship — an issue not definitively ruled upon by the Court in over a century.
In the meantime, Skrmetti’s brief signals that several states, particularly those led by Republican attorneys general, are ready to support Trump’s immigration policy agenda as the 2024 executive order continues to make its way through the courts.
Trump has made immigration and border security central to his second-term agenda, framing the issue as a matter of national sovereignty, security, and economic stability.
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