Press Statement  AG Campbell Secures Preliminary Injunction In Birthright Citizenship Case

BOSTON — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today joined the attorneys general of New Jersey, California, Delaware, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Vermont, and the City of San Francisco in releasing the following statement in response to a preliminary injunction being granted by a federal judge against President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order terminating birthright citizenship: 

“President Trump may believe that he is above the law, but today’s preliminary injunction sends a clear message: He is not a king, and he cannot rewrite the Constitution with the stroke of a pen. 

“The President and his allies made clear long before he was sworn in that they would pursue this illegal action, and our coalition was prepared to challenge it as soon as President Trump fulfilled this unconstitutional campaign promise on Inauguration Day. 

“We immediately stood up for our Constitution, for the rule of law, and for American children across the country who would have been deprived of their constitutional rights – and today we delivered for them. This is not yet over, and we will continue to fight every single step of the way until President Trump is permanently prevented from trampling on the Fourteenth Amendment rights of all Americans.” 

President Trump issued an executive order on January 20, 2025 to end birthright citizenship, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

To stop the President’s unlawful action, which would harm hundreds of thousands of American children and their families, the coalition sued in the District of Massachusetts to invalidate the executive order and to enjoin any actions taken to implement it. The states requested immediate relief to prevent the President’s Order from taking effect. The request was granted by Judge Leo Sorokin. 

Joining AG Campbell in this lawsuit are the attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, as well as the City and County of San Francisco.