Mr. Trump is planning to attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, according to the incoming officials. The U.S. government has long interpreted the U.S. Constitution to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth, regardless of their parents' immigration status.

President Donald Trump has moved to end a decades-old immigration policy known as birthright citizenship, ordering the cancellation of the constitutional guarantee that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status.

The lawsuit to block the president’s executive order is the first salvo in what is likely to be a long-running legal fight over immigration policy.