#trump is trying to end birthright citizenship

[thebreakfastgenie]

yes, harris would have done the same things trump is doing

It doesn't count to say it on anon, you have to look me in the eye (metaphorically) and say it to convince you really believe that. Alternatively you can write a detailed explanation of what evidence convinced you that Harris would let Elon Musk and his gang of 20-year-olds shut down USAID or issued an executive order to end birthright citizenship, 14th amendment be damned. Don't try to move the goalposts, I was not at any point referring to Gaza policy exclusively, but I'd need an explanation of that one too because Biden's Gaza policy, whatever your opinion on it, factually did not involve talking about sending US troops in or ethnic cleansing, and Harris at no point said she was in favor of doing those things. If Harris would have done all these things, why didn't Biden? If Harris wanted to do them but Biden didn't, why didn't she campaign on them, as Trump did? You also can't say "Harris would have done other, equally bad things" because that was not the question. The question was whether Harris would have done the exact same things Trump is doing, in every area. Convince me you actually believe that.

Or don't. If you're so secure in your moral position, why does my opinion matter to you at all?

[beardedmrbean]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California woman was sentenced Monday to more than 3 years in prison in a long-running case over a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States to deliver babies who automatically became American citizens.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner gave Phoebe Dong a 41-month sentence and ordered her immediately taken into custody from his federal court in Los Angeles. Dong and her husband were convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering through their company, USA Happy Baby.

The sentencing came as birthright citizenship has been thrust into the spotlight in the United States with the return of President Donald Trump to the White House. Since taking office, Trump issued an executive order to narrow the definition of birthright citizenship, a move quickly blocked by a federal judge who called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Dong and her husband, Michael Liu, were among more than a dozen people charged in an Obama-era crackdown on so-called “birth tourism” schemes that helped Chinese women hide their pregnancies while traveling to the United States to give birth. Such businesses have long operated in various states catering to people from China, Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere.

Under the 14th Amendment, any child born in the United States is an American citizen. Many have seen these trips as a way to help their children secure a U.S. college education and a better future — especially since the tourists themselves can apply for permanent residency once the children turn 21.

During her sentencing hearing, Dong wiped away tears as she recalled growing up without siblings due to China’s strict “ one-child ” policy and told the court that the Chinese government forced her mother to have an abortion. Moving to the United States was challenging, she said, but Dong grew hopeful after having children of her own and saw she could help Chinese women who want to have additional children in California.

“I don’t want to lose my kids,” she told the court. “I hope you can give me fair judgment. I will take all my responsibility.”

Federal prosecutors sought a more than five year sentence for Dong and argued that she and Liu helped more than 100 pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States. They said the pair worked with others to coach women on how to trick customs officials by flying into airports believed to be more lax while wearing loose-fitting clothing to hide their pregnancies.

“For tens of thousands of dollars each, defendant helped her numerous customers deceive U.S. authorities and buy U.S. citizenship for their children,” prosecutors said in court filings. They declined to comment after the sentencing.

In December, Liu was also sentenced to 41 months in prison. Dong's lawyer, John McNicholas, asked that she be allowed to serve her term after Liu completes his sentence because of their three children. The youngest is 13.

Federal prosecutor Kevin Fu agreed to the delay but Klausner refused and had her taken into custody immediately. Dong removed a necklace and gave it to a family member before she was led away.

The USA Happy Baby case was part of a broader probe into businesses that helped Chinese women travel to give birth in California. The operator of another business is believed to have fled to China, McNicholas wrote in court filings, while another was sentenced in 2019 to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and visa fraud for running the company known as “ You Win USA.”

McNicholas said he feels Dong was given a much longer sentence because the government and Klausner blame her for the babies that were born U.S. citizens. That, he said, is unrelated to the allegations that she and Liu helped women travel to the United States to give birth.

“Our position was these children are born in America. They’re citizens,” McNicholas said, adding that Dong will appeal. “Implicitly, he’s saying being born here is not enough.”

[khattikeri]

i need all white american liberals to take a deep fucking breath post-trump inauguration 2.0 and reconsider before saying shit like "im worried about you and your family, do you have your papers together?" to your peers of color now that ICE is conducting raids.

certainly this regime will dive further into authoritarianism and fascism but the united states is not going to dissolve and collapse overnight just because imperialist Red took over from imperialist Blue. consider the level of privilege you have, if you only freak out about america's crimes against minorities and foreigners when republicans come into power.

i don't care how good or kind your intentions are, stop for two goddamn seconds before saying this racist shit unprompted to your black and brown friends.

[lore-gore]

Hey so apparently the Trump administration is trying to include Natives in his unconstitutional birthright citizenship end order. They haven't been non citizens since 1924. He trying to fucking reverse the Snyder Act.

A lot, if not all, of his plans impact natives in some way. Remember to keep advocating for native rights.

[oneofthosecrazycatladies]

Okay a couple weeks ago I started this post trying to keep track of all the stuff going on in order to help remind us of everything that’s happened when the next election comes around. Well, because there’s just so much going on, I’ve realized trying to cram it all into one post isn’t going to work. So I’m going to do a new post every month and include links to the previous ones.

So here goes…

January 2025

February 2025

Donald Trump has enforced his tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. [x]

Donald Trump has put Mexico tariffs on hold for one month. [x]

Donald Trump allowed Elon Musk to begin dismantling USAID. [x]

Congress is voluntarily giving up its power and allowing Trump to make unilateral decisions. [x]

Darren Beattie has been made Under Secretary of State. [x]

Everything that Donald Trump has done so far lines up with Project 2025 [x]

The White House is drafting an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education [x]

Elon Musk, who nobody voted for or elected, has, essentially, hacked the government. [x]

El Salvador has agreed to take US deportees of any nationality. [x]

US Representative Andy Biggs is proposing a bill to abolish OSHA. [x]

Pam Bondi has been confirmed as Attorney General [x]

Donald Trump doesn’t think Palestinians should return to Gaza. [x]

Donald Trump says he’ll use US troops to “take over” the Gaza Strip. [x]

A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. [x]

Donald Trump has banned trans women from women’s sports [x]

Donald Trump sanctions the International Criminsl Court. [x]

A judge has paused the federal “buyouts” [x]

DOGE: Member of DOGE resigns [x]

DOGE has been given access to the Department of Energy. [x]

Miscellaneous news about Elon Musk [x]

DOGE is using AI to infiltrate the Department of Education [x]

Russell Vought, author of Project 2025, has been confirmed as Director of OMB [x]

Democrats in Congress have introduced the Taxpayer Data Protection Act [x]

Donald Trump has flagged the words “women” “diverse” and “historically” from studies done by the National Science Foundation. [x]

New Mexico Representative Melanie Stansbury has introduced the Nobody Elected Elon Musk Act [x]

Democratic Congressional leaders have introduced the Stop the Steal Act [x]

Donald Trump has called for a review of funding for the United Nations [x]

Federal agencies are barred from celebrating Black History Month [x]

Here’s a link to the Project 2025 Policy Agenda that Donald Trump claimed he didn’t know anything about.*

*He only claimed he didn’t know anything about it after it proved to be deeply unpopular with the general public.

I’m also including directories for both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That way, if you’re so inclined, you can also track the individual actions of every Senator and Representative.

Miscellaneous News

Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) repeatedly uses a transphobic slur on the Congressional floor. [x]

Clarence Thomas is…being Clarence Thomas *sigh* [x]

Donald Trump fired the Chair of the Kennedy Center and named himself as the new Chair [x]

Once again, please feel free to let me know about anything I’ve missed. With this era of constant news we live in, it can be easy to forget so let’s give our future selves a little help!

[max--phillips]

If you were writing a dystopian novel and included everything that happened today, but especially the fact that Trump unilaterally announced that there are only two genders and sexes, that he is trying to end birthright citizenship and started his administration on day 1 and 2 with ICE raids that one could draw parallels to pogroms, and his foreigner right hand man (who is also the richest man in the world) who got a whole shiny new department to himself (sort of) did two (2) Nazi salutes on stage during a speech he was giving for… some reason ???? You would get called a bad writer because everything is too unrealistic and on the nose.

[theantichrists-blog]

update about ICE

ACLU is suing the trump administration to block trumps attempt to end birthright citizenship. an executive order does not override the constitution.

nationwide: if tries to enter your house respectfully decline and I mean respectfully because you don't want to "give them a reason" for being aggressive or hostile, you have the right to remain silent. if they have a warrant you have to let them in but if they knock on your door first thing to say is "do you have a warrant?" if they don't say "I have the right to remain silent until I have my lawyer and you may not enter my home" if they do let them in and be as peaceful as you can, don't be aggressive, don't yell, just try to be calm and answer what they want in a respectful way.

remember the trump administration benefits on us being confused that's why they do a billion things in a day that's why half of them are unconstitutional and the other half will get them sued the goal is to make everyone freaked out and panicked to buy themselves time.

reminder!! there are existing organizations that know what we need to do in the situations, one of them being the ACLU but find 1 - 2 local organizations that you can trust because some things will be different in other regions, states, and counties. ( ex. ice raid, there will be information nationwide but your state might have direct instructions about what to do to keep you safe since they are in your area and they know how things will happen, your Mayor and your govenor might be reacting to trump's plans differently and tell you to do different things so look out for those 2)

ICE also cannot enter a school, they cannot just like how they cannot go into someone's home without a warrant.

it okay to be scared but if you are just getting people fear mongering and not telling you your rights or any new information then stay away from those sources as they are just trying to get into your head.

[carbonh1ck4]

The White House said it’s ready to face the states in court and called the lawsuits “nothing more than an extension of the Left’s resistance.”

“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump,” White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said.

Oh, oh we are so fucked. This was in reference to Trump trying to overwrite the 14th amendment by claiming that in order to be a US citizen from birth, both parents must be American citizens. This is just one of the bigger ones, all his other executive orders are pretty fucked too.

Fucker got sued by 22 states in his first day in office.

[dreamspinner3]

I just sent this message to my Senator Amy Kolbuchar:

"I saw an article, written by Michelle Cottle, in which you stated that you believe Americans want you to find common ground and work with the Trump administration. I must say that I feel betrayed by your words.

Trump and his ilk are attempting to establish an authoritarian and tyrannical government here in the United States, and so far, they appear to be successful. They are seizing control of departments that once provided essential health and human services to the entire nation, shutting down funding, and cutting off communications between these agencies and American citizens.

They have started building internment camps, including one at Guantanamo Bay, to detain undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking a better life. The problem is that legal immigrants and U.S. citizens are also being targeted in ICE roundups. Trump even wants to overturn birthright citizenship for Native Americans!

He has ordered an end to DEI initiatives that have helped rectify decades of systemic racism, sexism, and prejudice in all aspects of American society—initiatives that likely helped you attain your political position. He is trying to restrict women’s rights to abortion and birth control, effectively forcing them to become pregnant against their will. The term for living beings that cannot control their own reproductive choices is livestock. No women I know, including myself, want to be treated as livestock.

He wants to erase transgender individuals from existence, portraying all of them as mentally ill or, even worse, as pedophiles. He seeks to restrict or completely eliminate the rights of all LGBTQIA+ American citizens.

Let’s not forget that his administration wants to force right-wing Christian ideology into our public schools and embed it into the very fabric of government agencies. Under his rule, freedom of religion will become a thing of the past.

I am asking you, as my senator, NOT to cooperate or work with the Trump administration on anything! Instead, you, your colleagues, and constituents like myself must stand against tyranny and authoritarianism and refuse to capitulate to it.

Our voices must be raised against the lies and propaganda that this administration will spread. We must back our words with actions that make it as difficult as possible for them to enact their treacherous plans. If that means refusing to work with them, so be it.

Please, Senator Klobuchar, stand up in resistance to this administration. Do not seek common ground with tyranny, because it does not exist. If you cooperate with them—even once—you will be complicit in the very government that seeks to bring the American experiment to an end."

I want my political representatives in Washington DC to resist Trump and his political allies at every turn. I want them to make it as difficult as possible for him to bring tyranny to America. I want them to fight him, resist him, and to defend our nation's political ideals against him.

I'll do what can, I will speak out when I see injustice, help others to find safety and refugee, I will let others know I respect them and their beliefs, I'll vote for the greater good. I will resist.

[taylorscottbarnett]

What a Fucking Shit-show:

Trump - a convicted felon, a traitor, an insurrectionist and an adjudicated rapist supported by a literal nazi has in just two weeks:

- repealed ethics rules prohibiting executive branch employees accepting major gifts from lobbyists and two year bans on lobbyists seeking executive jobs and vice versa -Rescinded Executive Order 11246 signed by former President Lyndon Johnson forbidding employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion and national origin - Froze billions in federal aid only to back-peddle after outrage. - Launched a meme crypto that the entire crypto space shunned it for the money-laundering and bribery scam it was, and holds 80 percent of the coin's supply himself - Withdrew the US from the World Health Organization - Withdrew the US from the Pairs Agreement -- ceding American leadership from both bodies - pardoned 1500 felons who attacked the heart of American power and killed people trying to overthrow his last election loss - separated families - tried to end birthright citizenship - put 13 billionaires in his cabinet - revoked the security clearances of 50 former executive branch employees for crossing him - said to reporters that he would "not feel any responsibility if harm befell the former government officials" - ordered politically charged reviews into his personal grievances against those he sees as enemies - attacked media who reported stories critical of him - ordered his Justice Department to put a freeze on civil rights cases - issued a pardon for Ross Ulbricht - pardoned the operator of the Silk Road who facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services. - raised taxes by 25% on consumers for Canadian and Mexican goods - shut down the Medicaid payment portal - shut down funding for Medicaid, SNAP, funding for small businesses, farmers, Pell grants, Head Start, rental assistance and student loans before almost immediately backtracking after an uproar. - ordered federal agencies to be loyal to him rather the US Constitution - fired members of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - fired members of the National Labor Relations Board - fired over 160 members of the National Security Council - put Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary in exchange for his dropping out of the 2024 race and endorsing Trump in a stunning quid pro quo - talked about ending childhood vaccination programs with RFK Jr - placed a gag order on all communications and reports from HHS and sub-agencies unless approved by his office - gave ICE the power to deport immigrants who came to the United States legally - Trump passed an executive order to ban birthright citizenship in blatant violation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. - faced backlash from both Democrats and Republicans in cities, states, police departments, school districts and other local governments stated who've stated they will not assist in migrant raids because of public safety and civil rights concerns - compiled a list of military officials involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and investigating whether they could be court-martialed. - refused to rule out military or economic force to take over Greenland or the Panama Canal

[scrumpbumpist]

Hey, I know the shit with the TikTok ban is blatant propaganda and all, but maybe we should also be concerned about Trump trying to end birthright citizenship and also withdraw from the Paris accords? Maybe the environmental damage he's promising to do and the fact that he’s attempted to federally define sex as binary as well as reinstate the death penalty???

Our attention should be here. It's going to be a long 4 years. Everyone, pick an area to attack or defend, and focus on it.

(I'm not shaming anyone for focusing on TikTok because we're on a social media website right now, but you guys have to be aware of other stuff. I'm not seeing anyone talking about this and I want to make sure people know!)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ed Pilkington at The Guardian:

The American Civil Liberties Union, a leading defender of rights and freedoms enshrined in the US constitution, has drafted several major lawsuits it is prepared to file should Donald Trump try to wield excessive or unlawful power at the start of his second presidency, which starts on Monday.

Cecillia Wang, the ACLU’s recently appointed national legal director, said the organisation was fully set, with plaintiffs lined up and legal complaints already written. The incoming president’s plans to mass-deport millions of undocumented immigrants, his threats to pursue vendettas against his political enemies and his talk of mobilising the military for domestic purposes, are all squarely in the ACLU’s sights. In an interview with the Guardian, Wang declined to put a number to the lawsuits that are ready to roll, saying: “I’m not keeping count.” But she added: “We’ve been fleshing out the legal theories, drafting briefs, working with prospective plaintiffs. We’re preparing for litigation in earnest.” The organization is already primed to file suit under the 14th amendment, Wang said, against any move by Trump to end birthright citizenship. The president-elect has made eradicating the right bestowed by the constitution on any child born within the US a pillar of his second-term objectives. “We are ready to file a lawsuit to challenge any attack Trump launches on birthright citizenship – the complaint is essentially drafted, we’re lining up plaintiffs in the case,” she said.

On Sunday, the ACLU marks its 105th anniversary. It was founded in 1920 with the mission of protecting conscientious objectors in the wake of the first world war and so-called radicals amid the anti-communist frenzy that followed the Russian revolution. On Monday, the organisation faces arguably its biggest test when Trump returns to the Oval Office threatening to blow up many of the core rights and liberties that form the ACLU’s bedrock. Wang views Trump’s plans as an existential threat to a range of individual rights and freedoms protected by the constitution. She points to free speech and association safeguarded by the first amendment, the fourth amendment firewall against unlawful arrest and excessive force and the equal protection clause the ACLU is using to defend the rights of transgender people against sex discrimination. “From his efforts going after immigrants, attacking the very idea of protest, his threats to call out the military and threats to go after transgender and LGBTQ Americans – all these things tear at the heart of US democracy and society,” she said.

[...] The organization helped put a stop to family separation at the Mexican border, prevented a citizenship question from being inserted into the 2020 census and forced the contentious Muslim travel ban to be rewritten twice before the supreme court finally approved it. The ACLU also pushed back relentlessly on Trump’s other policies, winning a major victory in 2020 prohibiting employment discrimination against gay and transgender workers. After the supreme court abolished the constitutional right to abortion – a decision that came during Joe Biden’s term but fulfilled a core Trump promise – the ACLU and its affiliates immediately filed lawsuits to protect reproductive rights in almost a dozen states.

With the return of Donald Trump to the White House tomorrow, the ACLU is prepping up to fight Trump’s attacks on civil liberties.

[traegorn]

My spouse said something about Trump wanting to end naturalized citizenship or something? His mother has a green card so he's worried he won't be a citizen anymore? Also his dad is american so im?? How would that even work? But I argue that makes no sense bc then the ONLY citizens would be people who immigrated???? Like they want to stop people being citizens by birth but that would just make only people who took the citizenship tests etc the only citizens? It doesn't make any sense??? I'm confused

Denaturalization is a thing that can happen if there is evidence of fraud or wrongdoing in a person's citizenship process found after the fact. It's normally incredibly rare (like less than a dozen cases a year), but Trump did it far more often than anyone else who held the office of President.

Now this time around Trump has the court stacked in his favor too, so while things like birthright citizenship are enshrined with the 14th amendment, it's likely he'll try to give it a shot anyway (with things he's publicly said), so who knows how they'll rule.

So yeah, we need to make sure he's kept out of office and that Harris wins.

[frnkandthechemicalromances]

So i've looked into a lot of the things Trump wants to do and i'm going to be honest it's extremely terrifying. There are a lot of things that are red flags but i'm going to list a few of the big ones.

1. The reversal of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) calling it immoral and illegal and seeks to remove this from federal offices and private sectors. Included in this is revoking the EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPROTUNITY ACT 90 days after its signature date.This is going to allow discrimination within workplaces for women, people of color, LGBTQ+, disability and age. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/

2. Wants to gain control of Greenland for "international security" and has stated he wants to buy the country but isn't against military force. Greenland Prime Minister has said he's willing to speak and negotiate with him but has no intention of being americans. https://www.politico.eu/article/greenland-prime-minister-mute-egede-government-us-president-danish-pm-mette-frederikson/

3. Has taken down reproductiverights.gov and took down the spanish version of the whitehouse.gov website and has taken down both the constitution and bill of rights from the website. And has talked about ending topics of race and gender in schools which could potential censor topics like segregation, women's rights and slavery.

4. Trying to take away birthright citizenship which is unconstitutional and implementing ice raids. There are no longer sensitive areas for these raids as well, claiming they are getting rid of "criminals and r*pists". No school, church or hospital is safe from these raids. Not only that but suspending refugee admission programs and barring asylum seekers from entering the country until approval. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/

He's censoring people from knowing their rights, he's allowing discrimination in the workforce, he's trying to expand and attack other nations and trying to create a common enemy by spreading lies and hateful messages about immigrants. This is all sounding too familiar, and the fact that it's happening in real time is terrifying and it's going to get worse. Of course we need to hope for the best but expect the worst. I'm not trying to scare people, but keep people informed and trust and hope the government does its job and prevents as much harm as possible.

[imqueerandadeer]

Props to my home state for dragging trumps ass

[Image ID: A Sacramento Bee article titled "Trump is trying to end birthright citizenship. Now, California is suing him //End Image ID]

[marta-bee]

Regrouping a bit, politically, this morning.

Today I signed a letter with a group I volunteered with, asking our (US) Congressmen and new state governor to do anything within their power to push back against Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, and provide state-level protection and support for any North Carolinians affected.

As in, I got up early, jumped in a cab and physically signed a piece of paper in front of a notary. Yes, me, the person who has to screw up her courage to call a store to place a pick-up order. It felt good, though.

I've also begun collecting a list of news stories which I plan to post once a week here. I open up Google News, look at the stories being talked about, save the link in a Word document, then move on with my day. It's happening but it's also catalogued and recorded in a way that gives me that little bit of power over what's going down. Plus it gives me freedom to cordon it off and not talk about everything happening in the world.

Trust me when I say there's a lot of screed-worthy happenings. We are officially in the "And Find Out" phase of current events here. I gave in to that impulse to talk about a few of them yesterday, and while I don't exactly regret it, keeping MAGA shenanigans in their proper place helps, too. Knowing what they're doing and responding when I can, but also letting it not be the focus of my whole day.

(Yesterday I did worse at that than I'd like. Though yesterday really was out of the ordinary in so many ways.)

The honest truth is Trump & Co. want me to feel overwhelmed and scared. They want you to, too. I don't plan to give them that victory, and the best way I know to fight it is to keep focused on the small things I can do.

If you want some sober hope, Rachel Maddow spoke with historian Timothy Snyder about the current moment, and his assessment (while grim) didn't skip over the very real weaknesses in Trump's coalition. And he ends by reminding us there will be openings to push back against Trump, but we've got to keep our head up to see them when they come. He's a smart man, and I generally trust what he says. I'll try to trust him this time too, though I'm not going to lie and pretend like it's easy. Still, it seems like a better plan than the alternative.

Bottom line?

Stay informed, on your terms.

Stay involved. Small ways count. Quite often more than the big ones.

Be kind, to others and yourselves.

Keep your life full of good things. Even silly things. Especially silly things.

And above all, nolite te bastardes carborundorum.