Arizona Attorney General Mayes and other state officials spoke out in the recent Supreme Court case about birthright citizenship. They strongly opposed the President’s effort to limit this long-standing rule and defended the Fourteenth Amendment, which clearly gives citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.
The coalition's message comes in response to an attempt by the Trump Administration to alter the rights to citizenship as accepted since the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark decision. Attorney General Mayes stated, "For 127 years, since the Supreme Court settled the issue, the law has been clear: if you are born in this country, you are a citizen of the United States and of our States." This sentiment reinforces the Attorney General's belief in upholding the well-established interpretation of the law, suggesting any change to this would cause "widespread chaos and disruption," as reported by the Attorney General's Office.
Among the broad alliance joining in the statement were Attorneys General from states that span the nation, including California, Colorado, and New York. Legal experts and advocates widely criticized the Trump Administration’s argument before the Supreme Court, calling it a constitutional overstep. "The President cannot rewrite the Constitution and contradict the Supreme Court’s own holdings with the stroke of a pen,” added Mayes, as stated in the Attorney General's Office.
