Representative Adriano Espaillat Denounces Supreme Court Decision on Birthright Citizenship 

WASHINGTON, DC — Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), issued the following statement regarding the heinous Supreme Court decision that sets the country on a path to strip away birthright citizenship for U.S. born children across the country. 

“I am appalled at the Supreme Court's irresponsible decision to allow the Trump Administration to strip birthright citizenship from millions of U.S. born babies within 30 days. Let’s be clear, President Trump is fully responsible for the chaos that will ensue after his executive order takes effect. This is his cruelty and his court. 

“By focusing its attention on the partisan issue of nationwide injunctions, the Supreme Court threatens millions of newborn Americans with statelessness and subjects them to the whims of masked rogue agents that pass as immigration enforcers under Trump. It bears repeating: This administration will have ICE target newborns, and we will fight back.
 
“The chaos that will be wrought on growing families – regardless of the citizenship status of the parents – rests on the shoulders of President Trump and his xenophobic administration, their enablers in Congress and now on their abettors in the Supreme Court. Depending on where they live, parents will be forced to prove their citizenship in the maternity ward. This is blatantly unconstitutional and will split the nation into free states and Trump states.

“This fight is not over. The case must run through the courts on its merits – as multiple judges have made clear, the interpretation of the 14th amendment to the Constitution is not a controversial matter. All persons born in this country – save for the children of foreign diplomats or those born to invading armies – are United States citizens. Period.”

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Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his fifth term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities and serves as Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the committee during the 119th Congress. He is Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/. 

Media inquiries: Candace Person at Candace.Person@mail.house.gov