Trump Vows To End Birthright Citizenship As Lawsuits Pile Up
Plus: What's next for Trump's immigration crackdown and sweeping pardons for all Jan. 6 rioters
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Good morning,
New Orleans got a few inches of snow, and residents whipped out their skis!
There’s a first time for everything: The National Weather Service issued its first ever blizzard warnings in Louisiana on Tuesday, in the Acadiana and Lake Charles areas.
Snowfall reached up to 9.5 inches in parts of NOLA. The previous record snowfall was 2.7 inches, set on New Year’s Eve 1963.
The last time the city got any measurable snow was 2009, and it was only one-tenth of an inch.
Zooming out: This is part of a rare winter storm in the U.S. South, closing highways and airports in Texas, and bringing snow and freezing rain to areas unaccustomed to winter weather.
Stay warm!
Mosheh, Jill, Sari, & Lauren
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📌 TRUMP CONTINUES IMMIGRATION, BORDER CRACKDOWN
Trump signed more executive orders on Inauguration Day than any president in recent history. With 26 signatures, he reversed 67 Biden-era policies and followed through on two dozen of his campaign promises, including several orders aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, had been telling the country that the largest deportation operation in history was set to start in Chicago on Tuesday. But as of Tuesday night, there were no reports of immigration enforcement in the city.
Officials have said at least 100 ICE officers will target roughly 300 undocumented people in Chicago with histories of violent crimes.
But Latino-heavy areas of Chicago were relatively empty on Tuesday, amid extremely cold temperatures and leaked stories about the raids. Many immigrant-run businesses and restaurants closed, as people stayed home to avoid encounters with law enforcement.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
On Tuesday, the Trump administration issued a directive allowing federal immigration officers to carry out enforcement actions in and around churches and schools, which had previously been protected areas.
According to the statement, “Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
In 2011, ICE created a policy preventing agents from making arrests in so-called “sensitive” areas. Immigrant advocates warn that the Trump administration’s reversal could stoke fears that might prevent children from going to school and stop people from seeking care at hospitals.
OTHER EXECUTIVE ORDERS
This is on top of several other immigration-related executive orders Trump signed in his first 24 hours in office.
In another executive order Trump issued on Monday, Trump called on the State Department to designate certain cartels as global terrorists, which could could give his administration more power to impose economic penalties, travel restrictions, and even take military action on foreign countries.
He also signed an order making it easier to deport foreign students and other foreign nationals who express support for terrorist organizations like Hamas. This comes after heated anti-Israel protests on college campuses last year.
📌 LAWSUITS PILE UP AGAINST TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER
Possibly the most controversial immigration-related executive order was Trump’s move to ban birthright citizenship as laid out in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Two dozen U.S. state attorneys general and civil rights groups quickly filed lawsuits.
The order, signed Monday, directs the Social Security Administration to no longer recognize U.S.-born babies of undocumented immigrants as citizens, and orders the State Department to stop issuing passports to them.
On Tuesday, 23 Democratic attorneys general filed two separate lawsuits in Massachusetts and Washington state to challenge the order.
The lawsuit in Massachusetts calls the policy a "flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands [of] American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage."
According to the Pew Research Center, about 4.4 million U.S.-born children under 18 lived with an unauthorized immigrant parent in 2022.
A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
The 14th Amendment, granting birthright citizenship, was ratified in 1868 and originally passed to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved Black Americans. It guarantees that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens.
Trump's order declared that individuals born in the US are not entitled to automatic citizenship if the mother is in the country unlawfully and the father was not a citizen or lawful resident. It also declared citizenship would be denied to those whose mother was in the country lawfully but temporarily, such as those on student or tourist visas.
The Supreme Court has not addressed whether the Citizenship Clause applies to U.S.-born children of people who are in the United States illegally. If courts decided the Constitution protected birthright citizenship, then only a constitutional amendment (passed by a majority of states and Congress)could change that.
📌 WHAT TRUMP AND BIDEN HAVE IN COMMON: USING BROAD PARDON POWER
In one day, two U.S. presidents used their unique power to make comprehensive pardons, despite criticism from within their respective parties.
On Monday, then-President Biden preemptively pardoned people he thought would be targeted by the incoming Justice Department, including five of this family members.
Hours later, President Trump pardoned approximately 1,500 individuals convicted for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. He commuted the sentences of 14 others and directed the Justice Department to dismiss all pending cases related to Jan. 6.
Bottom line: All Jan. 6 defendants had their slates wiped clean by Trump.
BIDEN’S PARDONS
Minutes before leaving office, Biden gave blanket pardons to three of his siblings and two of their spouses over concerns about politically motivated attacks from Trump — even though they had not been charged with anything.
This came hours after he pardoned Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, and leaders on the House committee investigating January 6 – also to protect them from potential retribution.
Biden is not the first U.S. president to preemptively pardon people.
Former President Richard Nixon had not been charged with a crime when then-President Ford pardoned him for the Watergate scandal.
President Jimmy Carter issued preemptive pardons for Vietnam draft evaders, while President Abraham Lincoln pardoned Confederate soldiers who recommitted loyalty to the U.S. and accepted abolition.
Weeks earlier, Biden pardoned his son Hunter from convictions on tax and gun violations. Some Democrats were critical of Biden’s use of the pardon, saying it sets a worrisome precedent, especially with Trump back in office.
TRUMP’S PARDONS
Trump called Biden’s pardons “unfortunate,” but then used the same power for convicted January 6 rioters – many violent – despite some in his inner circle cautioning against it.
Who got pardoned: More than 100 people pardoned were convicted of assaulting officers.
They include Patrick McCaughey III, found guilty of assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon; Robert Scott Palmer, a Florida man who admitted to assaulting officers with a wooden plank and a fire extinguisher; Daniel Caldwell, who used pepper spray on officers guarding the Capitol; and the list goes on.
The two longest sentences were handed to former Proud Boys leader Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio (22 years) and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes (18 years). Both were released from jail hours after Trump signed the clemency order.
Tarrio was not in Washington on Jan. 6, but was convicted of directing the attack.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for assembling $20,000 worth of assault weaponry intended to be used at the Capitol.
While some Trump supporters viewed the Jan. 6 trials as politically motivated, legal scholars warn that we must hold those responsible for the attack to deter future political violence.
On Tuesday, some Republican lawmakers said they were “disappointed” with Trump’s move.
WHY THEY CAN DO THIS
The power to pardon is rooted in Article II of the Constitution, dating back to English kings’ “prerogative of mercy” from the seventh century. Alexander Hamilton wrote that a robust pardon power allows “easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt” by the justice system.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state in first Trump Cabinet post approval (CBS)
📌 Trump orders that all government DEI initiatives must end Wednesday (NBC)
📌 Coast Guard commandant removed from post (POLITICO)
📌 Photos: From Texas to Florida, a rare winter storm brings historic snowfall (NPR)
📌 Trump signs order to revoke clearances of ex-intel officials who signed letter about Hunter Biden's laptop (CBS)
📌 Trump terminates John Bolton’s security detail within hours of taking office, despite Iran assassination threat (CNN)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Hamas confirms 4 female hostages to be released on Saturday, without naming them (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
📌 Taliban say 2 Americans held in Afghanistan were freed in a prisoner exchange (AP)
📌 As World Economic Forum gets underway, the list of world leaders not attending Davos speaks volumes (CNBC)
📌 At least 76 people killed in a hotel fire at a ski resort in Turkey (AP)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Trump announces a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment in the US (CNN)
📌 As bird flu concerns grow, scientists race to develop new vaccines (NBC)
📌 Netflix Adds 19 Million Subscribers in Latest Quarter (NEW YORK TIMES)
📌 Astronomers detect ferocious jet-stream winds on alien planet (REUTERS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 Ichiro Suzuki becomes first Asian player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (NBC)
📌 Newly Released Video Shows Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni Awkwardly Interacting on It Ends With Us Set (PEOPLE)
📌 Trump inauguration: Jewel surprises MAHA Inaugural Ball with performance (FOX NEWS)
📌 Ryan Gosling In Talks For Shawn Levy’s ‘Star Wars’ Movie (DEADLINE)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: JANUARY 22
1984: During Super Bowl XVIII, Apple’s iconic “1984” commercial directed by Ridley Scott debuted. Featuring a young woman smashing a screen with a sledgehammer to defy a Big Brother-like figure, the ad revolutionized consumer technology advertising and introduced a new era for Apple.
1973: Roe v. Wade made history when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law criminalizing most abortions, declaring it unconstitutional. The landmark decision was overturned in 2022.
1998: Theodore Kaczynski, infamously known as the Unabomber, was sentenced to four life terms without parole for killing three people and injuring 22 in a series of attacks from 1979 to 1995.
Luigi Mangione, charged with killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO, reviewed one of Kaczynski’s book before committing the crime.
2012: Adele’s album 21 broke an American chart record previously held by The Beatles and Pink Floyd by spending 16 weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. charts.