DORAL, Fla. – Angel Leal is among the attorneys in South Florida who believe President Donald Trump’s order against birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.
Leal, who practices immigration law from his Doral office, said the new order Trump signed on Monday has prompted fear and panic.
“It will create chaos in the immigrant community,” Leal said.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Trump’s executive order excludes those whose mothers were not legally in the U.S., whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; or people whose mothers were in the country legally temporarily.
Attorneys general from 22 states and several chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union filed federal lawsuits Tuesday to block Trump’s order as unconstitutional.
The 14th Amendment was established after the Civil War and ratified in 1868. Leal and other attorneys argue that the only way to change it is by amending the U.S. Constitution and not by executive order.
Trump’s executive order is set to take effect Feb. 19.