(Seattle, WA) Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown released a statement in response to Monday’s executive actions by President Donald Trump that he says “could harm Washingtonians.”
“The Attorney General’s Office has spent the last year preparing for this day. Our team has worked closely with colleagues in other states, studied Project 2025 and other documents, and researched case law in order to act swiftly. We are prepared and committed to using the full power of the Attorney General’s Office to enforce Washington’s laws, to protect people’s rights, and to keep Washingtonians safe. We will uphold the law and we will fight when called upon for our shared values,” says the statement from Brown. “We will carefully analyze the orders and determine what legal action is appropriate. Some examples, such as the president’s attack on birthright citizenship, are not only unconstitutional on their face, but simply un-American.”
Trump signed the executive order Monday that would withhold U.S. citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.
The executive order would apply to any children born after February 19. The order is expected to be challenged in court by Washington’s Attorney General and others. Trump’s order is a departure from the traditional interpretation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which states that “all persons born” in the country “are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The executive action could leave an untold number of newborn babies in legal limbo as the matter proceeds through the courts.
