WASHINGTON — Attorneys general from more than 20 states filed a lawsuit to block President Donald Trump’s new executive order that bans recognizing the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants as American citizens. The order is among several sweeping policy changes by Trump to restrict the flow of immigrants into the country dramatically.

What You Need To Know

  • Shortly after his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued executive orders reinstating strict immigration policies, including reviving the “Remain in Mexico” policy, ending the Biden administration's mobile app that allowed migrants to seek asylum in the U.S. and suspending refugee resettlement

  • Perhaps the most controversial of all the executive orders was ending birthright citizenship, which grants anyone born on U.S. soil citizenship no matter the immigration status of their parents

  • Attorneys general from 22 states, as well as civil rights and immigrant rights groups, filed lawsuits arguing the measures violate constitutional protections including the 14th Amendment

  • Besides the legal challenges, there are also some logistical hurdles, as some experts say Trump's orders require more detention space, which would cost the government billions of dollars

At a migrant camp in Mexico City, Carlos Carreño checked an app on his cellphone designed to allow migrants to apply for asylum in the U.S. without entering the country unlawfully. The Biden administration created the mobile app to prevent large numbers of migrants from surging across the border. But when Carreño checked it, the app did not work.  

“I am here with a knot in my throat. I don’t know whether to cry, laugh  —  I have nerves. I don’t know what’s going to happen to us,” Carreño told The Associated Press. 

Trump disabled the app soon after taking office Monday as part of a series of actions to reduce migration to the U.S., in part by making it more difficult to get asylum. He ordered a restart of construction of the border wall and reinstated "Remain in Mexico," a policy requiring migrants seeking asylum to remain south of the border until their court dates are scheduled.

Trump also rescinded former President Joe Biden’s program that allowed citizens of four troubled nations — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — to live and work in the U.S. temporarily. He also suspended refugee resettlement. 

“Executive orders do not change the fact that U.S. law provides for access to asylum, withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture protection, which I think will feature predominantly in what I expect to be rapid litigation of these measures,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute.

Perhaps the most controversial of the executive orders Trump issued Monday was ending birthright citizenship. The provision grants anyone born on U.S. soil citizenship no matter the immigration status of their parents. Attorneys general from 22 states sued Tuesday to block it. Civil and immigrant rights groups separately did, too.

“Many children born to parents with lawful immigration status and children whose parents are undocumented would be deprived of citizenship under this order, and this is a blatant violation of the 14th Amendment and nearly two centuries of precedent,” said Naureen Shah, deputy director of Government Affairs at the ACLU.

One immigration expert said this all is not a major departure from Trump’s first term.

“The difference, I think, is that there has been the experience of the first Trump administration,” said Doris Meissner, senior fellow and director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at Migration Policy Institute. “There is more sophistication, I think it’s fair to say, in the way that they are going about it.” 

Besides the legal challenges, there are also some logistical hurdles. Trump ordered an end to releasing asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants who are awaiting hearings in immigration court. Experts said keeping them in custody would drive up the need for detention space, costing the government billions of dollars.