Demonstrators holds up a sign outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on June 27, 2025. (ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The states are rallying behind Trump as the Supreme Court is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether it will take up the president's petition that argues that the high court should reinterpret the 150-year-old amendment to do away with automatic citizenship.
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire did not join Friday's amicus brief. Fox News Digital reached out to their offices for comment. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is facing a tight race for reelection in the blue-leaning state.
Skrmetti of Tennessee pointed out in a statement that the post-Civil War citizenship amendment was designed to address children of people in the country legally, including formerly enslaved people.
"If you look at the law at the time, citizenship attached to kids whose parents were lawfully in the country," Skrmetti said. "Each child born in this country is precious no matter their parents’ immigration status, but not every child is entitled to American citizenship. This case could allow the Supreme Court to resolve a constitutional question with far-reaching implications for the States and our nation."
Trump signed an executive order as soon as he took office declaring that newborns of certain noncitizen mothers, including those living in the country illegally, do not get automatic citizenship, unless their father is a citizen.
The order was immediately met with several lawsuits, and in response to judges uniformly blocking it, the Supreme Court ruled that nationwide injunctions like the ones in the birthright citizenship cases were unconstitutional.
But the high court left alternatives, including class action lawsuits, in place, leading the plaintiffs challenging Trump’s order to bring their cases again in a way that aligned with the justices’ order. The Supreme Court has not yet weighed in on the merits of Trump's plan.
SCOTUS RULES ON TRUMP'S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS
People demonstrate outside the Supreme Court on May 15, 2025, in Washington, DC. The court heard arguments about lower courts' ability to block President Donald Trump's policy to end birthright citizenship. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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"It has become ever more apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals," the judge said. "The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain."
Coughenour said that if Trump wanted to change the "exceptional American grant of birthright citizenship," then the president would need to work with Congress to amend the Constitution, rather than attempt to redefine the amendment through an executive order.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nearly-all-republican-ags-add-firepower-trumps-birthright-citizenship-push