By Nate Raymond (NSE:)

BOSTON (Reuters) – Democratic-led states and civil rights groups filed dozens of lawsuits challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to restore birthright citizenship on Tuesday in an early bid of his opponents to block his agenda in court.

After his inauguration on Monday, Trump, a Republican, ordered US agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US if their mother or father is a US citizen or legal permanent resident. resident

Twenty-two Democratic-led states along with the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco have filed a pair of lawsuits in federal courts in Boston and Seattle that claim Trump violated the US Constitution.

Two similar lawsuits were filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, immigrant organizations and an expectant mother in the hours after Trump signed the executive order, setting off the first major court battle of his administration.

The charges refer to a central part of Trump’s immigration sweep. If allowed to stand, Trump’s order for the first time will deny more than 150,000 children born each year in the United States the right to citizenship, said the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.

“President Trump has no authority to take away constitutional rights,” he said in a statement.

Losing citizenship can prevent individuals from accessing federal programs such as Medicaid health insurance and, if they are elderly, from working legally or voting, states said.

“Today’s instant case sends a clear message to the Trump administration that we will stand up for our residents and their basic constitutional rights,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

More lawsuits by Democratic-led states and advocacy groups challenging other aspects of Trump’s agenda are expected, with lawsuits already on file challenging the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and a The executive order Trump signed weakens job protections for civil servants.

1898 US SUPREME COURT PRECEDENT

Three of the four lawsuits were filed in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Any decisions from New England state judges will be reviewed by the Boston-based 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, the only federal appeals court whose active judges are all Democratic appointees.

Four states filed a separate lawsuit in Washington state, where the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction. US District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle has scheduled a Thursday hearing on whether he should issue a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of Trump’s order.

A fifth lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland by a group of pregnant women and immigrant rights groups including CASA.

Various lawsuits argue that Trump’s executive order violates the right enshrined in the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution which provides that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen.

The complaints cite the US Supreme Court’s 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, a decision that held that children born in the United States to non-citizen parents are entitled to US citizenship.

The plaintiffs challenging the order include a woman living in Massachusetts identified only as “O. Doe” who is in the country through temporary protected status and is due to give birth in March.

Temporary protected status applies to people whose countries of birth have experienced natural disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary events and currently covers more than 1 million people from 17 countries.

Several other lawsuits challenging aspects of Trump’s other prior executive actions are pending.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents federal government employees in 37 agencies and departments, on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging an order signed by Trump that expedited the layoffs of thousands of federal agency employees and replaced by political loyalists.