Over 20 States Sue Trump Administration Over Order Seeking To Revoke Birthright Citizenship—-A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday to stop President Trump’s executive order that seeks to eliminate birthright citizenship.

Mr. Trump invoked presidential powers to begin his long-promised immigration crackdown shortly after taking office on Monday. His executive actions included an order directing the federal government to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates and other documents to many children born in the U.S. whose mothers are in the country illegally, or for whom neither parent is a legal permanent resident.

The lawsuit by the 18 states, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, claims Mr. Trump’s initiative violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which the federal government has long interpreted to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth. The cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., also joined the suit. 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.”

“The great promise of our nation is that everyone born here is a citizen of the United States, able to achieve the American dream,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement to CBS News. “This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice.”

The suit is seeking a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the executive order, and ultimately, to invalidate it. The states that joined the suit are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

“The President’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “We are asking a court to immediately block this order from taking effect and ensure that the rights of American-born children impacted by this order remain in effect while litigation proceeds. The President has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable.”

Mr. Trump directed that his order should be enforced in 30 days. It was challenged soon after it was issued, when the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups filed separate lawsuits seeking to thwart it.

Later Tuesday, a group of four more states — Illinois, Arizona, Washington and Oregon — filed a lawsuit of their own in Washington state targeting the executive order, bringing to at least four the number of suits challenging it.

“We need to discuss bipartisan commonsense immigration reforms, but denying birthright citizenship, which dates back centuries and has been upheld twice by the U.S. Supreme Court, is not the solution,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.

A federal judge in Seattle, John Coughenour, set a hearing for Thursday on a request from the four states for a temporary restraining order blocking Mr. Trump’s edict.

Israel, Hamas Reach Gaza Ceasefire Ahead Of Trump’s Inauguration—-Thecloudngr reports that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal for a ceasefire and release of hostages being held in Gaza, following separate meetings with Qatar’s prime minister.

A US official confirmed the deal.

Pressure to put an end to the fighting had ratcheted up in recent days, as mediators – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – intensified efforts to cement an agreement.

A source close to the talks said Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, was meeting Hamas negotiators in his office for a final push to seal the deal.

The source, who briefed on the talks later, said the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was reached, following the Qatari PM’s meeting with Hamas negotiators and, separately, Israeli negotiators in his office.

The announcement comes after months of failed bids to end the deadliest war in Gaza’s history, and days ahead of the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, who immediately hailed the deal before it was officially announced by the White House.

Trump

“We have a deal for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be released shortly. Thank you!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Trump had warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if it did not free the remaining captives before he took office, and envoys from both his incoming administration and President Joe Biden’s outgoing one had been present at the latest negotiations.

Hamas sparked the war in Gaza by staging the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage during the attack, 94 of whom are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed 46,707 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.

Sticking points

Among the sticking points in successive rounds of talks had been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, facing an Israeli ban on its activities set to take effect later this month, said it will continue providing much-needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to crush Hamas in retaliation for the October 7 attack, has opposed any post-war role for the militant group in the territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday Israel would ultimately “have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed” Palestinian Authority, and embrace a “path toward forming an independent Palestinian state”.

He added that the “best incentive” to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace remained the prospect of normalisation between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian PM

Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, speaking in Oslo, said the latest push for a Gaza ceasefire showed international pressure on Israel “does pay off”.

The October 7 attack on communities in southern Israel sparked uproar around the world, as did the scale of the suffering in Gaza from the retaliatory war.

World powers and international organisations have for months pushed for a ceasefire, which up until today had remained elusive.