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The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday over Donald Trump’s executive order that would ban birthright citizenship in the U.S. TPR spoke with area immigration experts on the ramifications of changing the law.
Although a majority of the Supreme Court seemed skeptical of Trump’s effort to limit birthright citizenship, immigration experts remain concerned that if the president’s order did pass, it would create chaos in the immigration system.
Clinical Professor of Law Erica Schommer is with St. Mary’s University School of Law.
“It would cause bureaucratic nightmares all across the country that I don't think had really been thought through with the executive order,” she told TPR.
Edna Yang is co-executive director at American Gateways, a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost or pro bono immigration legal services.
“Birthright citizenship has been recognized through jurisprudence for many, many years, and to overturn that jurisprudence based on the whim of an executive order is not something that is helpful to our nation and to all of our communities," she said.
We believe that the arguments that were heard really show that birthright citizenship is something that is a part of our nation and a part of our nation's identity and something that shouldn't be overturned."
Gabriel Rosales is Texas State director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). He’s hopeful that the Court will uphold the current law.
“It's a direct attack, I think, on the minority communities from across the world. So I don't think it's gonna fly. I think the Supreme Court is gonna hold up — what they've interpreted.”
The Supreme Court will likely rule on Trump’s executive order to overturn birthright citizenship in June or July.
