The president Donald Trump has run into the margins of the Constitution in his immigration offensive: organizations defending civil rights and authorities in Democratic states have resorted to laws to block or stop the implementation of his executive orders.
The first setback came on Thursday, four days after he began his second term. A federal judge in Seattle considered the decree that plans to end birthright citizenship “clearly unconstitutional” for children of undocumented immigrants or those with temporary status.
Magistrate John C. Coughenour stayed it for 14 days, but laid the foundations for a dynamic that could be repeated in the next four years: grandiose announcements of measures followed by a battery of lawsuits in the courtswhich leads Trump’s plans to be resolved in the Supreme Court.
“Trump is nothing more than a showman, he plays the role of president with drama. His strategy is to throw as many things as possible and see what he can get,” Justin Crowe, professor of Political Science at Williams College, explained to EFE.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution establishes that anyone born on US soil automatically obtains nationalityregardless of the immigration status of their parents.
“I’m not surprised by that judge,” Trump said after the judge’s resolution was known, recalling that principle. Coughenour acted in response to a lawsuit by four states, parallel to one filed by 18 others.
The objective of ending citizenship by birth has been the one that has received the most echo after coming to power, but not the only one that tests the status quo. He plans to replace, for example, with an increase in tariffs the income tax, the creation of which required the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913.
Before starting this second term, in his goal to cut expenses, he did not rule out not spending money already allocated by Congress, and He has also joked about remaining in power for the third time, although the Constitution limits the terms of office of presidents to two.. Legislator Andy Ogles has already prepared a draft to try to expand that limit.
And in the implementation of some of his campaign promises he has not hesitated to put on a show around them. The signing, for example, of his first executive orders, took place at the Capital One Arena in Washington on the day of his inauguration before some 20,000 people who received each ratification with ovations.
The resources in place anticipate a long process before their plans materialize. The president, however, plays with the advantage that the Republicans control both chambers of Congress and that the Supreme Court, which could have the final say, also has a conservative majority.
Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which have already taken to court the decision to eliminate the CBP One immigration application, which allowed making an appointment to appear at a port of entry on the border with Mexico, assure that they are on the fighting side.
“We took legal action against the Trump Administration more than 430 times when it first took office (2017-2021). “We have the manual to fight back and win once again,” he says on his website.
The Williams College professor warns that this is also a distraction strategy on Trump’s part. “It is possible that he can do some of those things and that others are blocked, but while they are being used, he has shown his voters what matters to him and while people try to stop them, he does not look elsewhere,” he maintains.
It does not rule out, however, that some of the changes sought may go ahead.
“A common feature of American constitutionalism is that opinions and rulings change, that nothing lasts forever. Trump and his team are consciously embracing the idea of trying a few things. They don’t know what’s going to work, but it will be some kind of stress test“he says.
With “the kind of hysteria” created around immigration as a political crisis, he concludes, it is possible that Trump will obtain the support of the population and manage to make it clear that this is a problem that requires a solution, “even if it faces legal and judicial obstacles.”
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