California and 22 other states are suing President Trump for his effort to end birthright citizenship.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The legal fight over some of President Trump's executive orders is already beginning as California joined 17 other states on Tuesday, suing the White House over Trump's new executive order end birthright citizenship.

The lawsuit, filed by 18 Democratic attorneys general, alleges the president is trying to eliminate a "well-established and longstanding Constitutional principle," by executive fiat. San Francisco and Washington, D.C. are also two cities that have also joined the lawsuit.

President Trump's bid to cut off birthright citizenship is a "flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accused Trump of seeking to eliminate a "well-established and longstanding Constitutional principle" by executive fiat.

"The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth," the lawsuit said.

MORE: South Bay leaders react to Trump's immigration policies: 'The city has your back'

Four additional states filed a similar suit later in the day, asking a federal court to keep the executive order from being implemented or enforced, bringing the total number of states to 22.

Birthright citizenship means anyone born in the US is automatically a citizen, regardless of their parents' immigration status. It's ensured the 14th amendment, which was ratified more than 150 years ago.

Trump's order directed federal agencies -- starting next month -- to stop issuing citizenship documents to U.S.-born children of undocumented mothers or mothers in the country on temporary visas, if the father is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference in San Francisco Tuesday to push back against the executive order, saying, "I have one message for President Trump: I'll see you in court."

"The president chose to start his second term by knocking down one of our country's foundational, long-standing rights and disregarding our nation's governing document, a terrifying tone to set for the rest of his term," Bonta said in the press conference.

According to the lawsuit, about 150,000 children born each year to two parents who were noncitizens and lacked legal status could lose access to basic health care, foster care, and early interventions for infants, toddlers, and students with disabilities.

MORE: Trump signs executive order ending birthright citizenship, other immigration actions

"They will all be deportable, and many will be stateless," the lawsuit said.

The states warned the executive order would also cause them to lose federal funding for programs that render services to children regardless of their immigration status.

While Trump's order purports to unilaterally end birthright citizenship, only the U.S. Supreme Court can determine how the 14th Amendment applies.

The states are seeking to invalidate the executive order and stop any actions taken to implement it. Their lawsuit requests a preliminary injunction to immediately prevent the order from taking effect.

On Tuesday, nonprofit groups in Massachusetts and New Hampshire also filed federal lawsuits challenging Trump's birthright citizenship executive order.

The U.S. Supreme Court also upheld the right in an 1898 case involving a San Francisco man who was the child of immigrant parents.

ABC7 News contributed to this story.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the state would join a lawsuit in the wake of an executive order by President Trump seeking to end birthright citizenship.

The lawsuit, joined by the attorneys general of 17 other states and San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, argues that the order violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Section 1401 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

"The President's executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American," Bonta said in a statement. "We are asking a court to immediately block this order from taking effect and ensure that the rights of American-born children impacted by this order remain in effect while litigation proceeds. The President has overstepped his authority by a mile with this order, and we will hold him accountable."

The order, signed hours after Mr. Trump was inaugurated, seeks to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally or on temporary visas.

Bonta said Tuesday that if the order were to stand, tens of thousands of children born in the U.S. each year would face possible deportation, would not be eligible for a wide range of federal benefits and would lose their ability to obtain a Social Security number.

The U.S. government has long interpreted the Constitution to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth, regardless of their parent's immigration status.

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

ALSO READ: U.S. birthright citizenship established by 1898 San Francisco case involving Chinatown resident

In a statement released after Trump signed the order, Bonta noted California's role in setting the precedent, citing a case brought on by Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese-American man born in San Francisco who had been denied entry back into the U.S. under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

A landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1898 affirmed his right to citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.

"This is California's history. And we are ready to fight for it," Bonta said Monday.

In a separate statement, Chiu said, "As a San Franciscan born to immigrant parents, I am determined to ensure the next generation of Americans are not deprived of this constitutional right. This Executive Order will significantly harm local jurisdictions like San Francisco that stand to lose significant federal funding should the order be upheld. It will sow confusion about the legal status of numerous newly-born American citizens."

The lawsuit is expected to be one of many legal fights between the new administration and California. A persistent foe of Trump's policies, the state filed dozens of lawsuits during his first term as president.

Bonta's predecessor, Xavier Becerra, sued the first Trump administration 122 times.

Along with Bonta and Chiu, attorneys general in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, have joined the lawsuit.

Tim Fang

Tim Fang is a digital producer at CBS Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Tim has been a part of the CBS Bay Area newsroom for more than two decades and joined the digital staff in 2006.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — “The story of birthright citizenship is as San Francisco as they come,” City Attorney David Chiu declared. On Tuesday, San Francisco and California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit to halt President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship.

Trump took advantage of his first day back as President of the United States to issue an executive order that seeks to end the longstanding American immigration policy. The policy makes any child born in the U.S. an automatic citizen, even if their parents did not enter the country legally.

Birthright citizenship stems from the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 and states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

“The president overstepped his authority by a mile,” Bonta said. If Trump succeeds in denying birthright citizenship for newborns, the move would impact more than 24,000 children who are born in California every year, Bonta said.

“This is an attack on children. It’s an attack on U.S. citizens. It’s an attack on our foundational document,” Bonta said.

Birthright citizenship was upheld in a landmark 1898 U.S. Supreme Court case that centered on a San Francisco man, Wong Kim Ark.

Ark was born in San Francisco to immigrant parents. In 1895, he was traveling from China back home when he was denied re-entry at the Port of San Francisco. Officials claimed he was not a citizen and he was subject to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Ark challenged his case all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-2 decision, judges ruled in favor of Ark, finding that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment automatically made him a U.S. citizen, and thus, he could not be denied entry into his home country.

If Trump’s order succeeds in striking down a century-old legal precedent, it will cause “chaos and confusion” for families of newborns, according to San Francisco City Attorney Chiu.

“Birthright citizenship is as clear cut as legal precedents come,” Chiu said. “The Constitution’s guarantee of this right was affirmed in a 127-year-old Supreme Court case. As a San Franciscan born to immigrant parents, I am determined to ensure the next generation of Americans are not deprived of this constitutional right. It will sow confusion about the legal status of numerous newly-born American citizens.”

The lawsuit names President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the U.S. Social Security Administration as defendants.

Trump’s order excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; people whose mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents.

It goes on to bar federal agencies from recognizing the citizenship of people in those categories. Trump’s order is set to take effect on Feb. 19.

New Jersey Democratic Attorney General Matt Platkin joined the lawsuit. On Tuesday he said presidents might have broad authority but they are not kings. “The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence,” Platkin said.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright, also joined the lawsuit and said it was personal for him. “The 14th Amendment says what it means, and it means what it says — if you are born on American soil, you are an American. Period. Full stop,” Tong said.

By Tuesday afternoon, attorneys general from 22 states have joined the lawsuit.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

As the fire lithium battery storage facility that led to evacuations in Moss Landing last week continues to smolder days later, concerns are being raised about the impacts to the surrounding environment.

The fire at the Moss Landing Vistra Power Plant, located about 90 miles south of San Francisco, broke out last Thursday afternoon, escalating in the early evening to the point where the incident triggered evacuations for about 1,200 Monterey County residents in the area and shut down a section of Highway 1 in both directions.

Concerned over the potentially toxic runoff if fire crews turned hoses on the burning lithium batteries, officials instead are allowing the to burn itself out.

Officials said the fire was largely out as of late Friday morning during a press conference, but it flared up significantly for a few hours that afternoon before dying down again.

At the press conference, Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church called the incident a "Three-Mile Island event" for the industry, referencing the 1979 partial meltdown at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. The battery energy storage systems industry, known by the acronym BESS, develops systems to store energy from electric, solar, electric, wind, and other energy systems.

"I think that this is, uh, can best be described as a worst-case scenario of a disaster that's happened here. Nobody really predicted anything on this line," said Church. "This is really a lot more than just a fire, it's a wake-up call for this industry. And if we're going to be moving ahead with sustainable energy we need to have safe battery systems in place."

Church said he has fielded numerous questions from his constituents on why it happened, how it happened, and how to prevent a similar accident in the future. Church added it is the fourth fire at the site, a former Pacific Gas and Electric facility, since 2019 and said he and other county officials were previously assured it would not happen again. He called for increased safety protocols for the industry at federal, state, local, and private levels.

Church is calling for the Vistra facility to remain closed until an independent investigation can determine the cause of the incident.

There are also ongoing worries about the environmental impact the fire has had on the region.

Monterey County officials will begin testing the water in the area this week. In the meantime, despite the toxic smoke produced by burning lithium batteries, they have given the all clear on the air quality.

"The air quality is good and...it's safe to breathe out there," said Monterey County Environmental Health Assistant Bureau Chief Marni Flagg.

Evacuation orders were lifted Friday evening, but the shut down section of Highway 1 did not reopen until Sunday.

Health officials still advised residents near the plant to limit outdoor exposure and to keep doors and windows closed until further notice.

The ongoing fire is raising concerns not just for the residents who make their home in the area, but also for the endangered sea otters living in the sensitive wetlands near the Vistra plant.

"They're a keystone species. They help to protect the kelp beds off shore by consuming sea urchins, and they help to protect the sea beds here in the slough," University of California at Santa Cruz researcher Lilian Carswell. "So healthy sea otters mean a healthy environment."

The otters live in the Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Researchers will keep a close eye on them as the fire continues to burn.

The Elkhorn Slough Reserve has been closed until further notice. There are only about 3,000 sea otters left in California.

Dave Pehling

Dave Pehling is website managing editor for CBS Bay Area. He started his journalism career doing freelance writing about music in the late 1990s, eventually working as a web writer, editor and producer for KTVU.com in 2003. He began his role with CBS Bay Area in 2015.

San Francisco’s rainless streak will hit two weeks Monday as a long stretch of dry weather plagues California this January. But there is some hope that by the weekend at least some parts of the state will pick up rain and snow.

For the next five days, the weather pattern will remain unsupportive of any precipitation. Another round of Santa Ana winds will result in an “extreme episode of fire weather” for coastal Southern California from Monday through Tuesday. Dry Diablo winds will also push into the Bay Area and clear out the fog, but fire weather concerns in Northern California remain low.

A high-pressure system will build across California from Wednesday through Friday, trapping the dry air mass underneath. Relative humidity will remain very low in coastal Southern California through Friday, with dangerous fire weather conditions.

Dry air and clear skies in wintertime are a recipe for chilly nights but warm, sunny days. Thursday’s high temperatures could push 70 degrees in San Jose and 80 degrees in Los Angeles, about 10 degrees above normal. Nights will be cool statewide, in the 30s and 40s in the valleys with well below-freezing temperatures in the mountains.

Precipitation may finally return to California this weekend when a cold low-pressure system approaches the region.

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It’s unlikely to be a big storm, but there is at least a decent chance of precipitation. Lake Tahoe could pick up its first dusting of snow in weeks, and Los Angeles and San Diego may receive their first significant rainfall since last April. Bay Area rainfall amounts look meager, at best, with less than a tenth of an inch expected.

Just how much rain and snow falls will depend on the system’s trajectory. If the system parallels the California coast on its way southward, it will pick up moisture and deposit rain and snow along the coast. But if the system remains over Nevada, precipitation amounts will be light and dry Santa Ana winds will be a bigger concern.

“We’re expecting a closed cut-off low, and those are notoriously hard to forecast,” said Robert Munroe, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard (Ventura County). Munroe said there is a 50% to 70% chance of precipitation from Saturday through Monday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms.

Regardless of exact precipitation totals, the snow line will probably be very low with this system. Snow could dust Bay Area peaks above 3,000 feet Saturday night, while elevations above 4,000 feet in Southern California may pick up a few inches of snow Sunday.

Despite the encouraging weekend forecast, the overall weather pattern remains unfavorable for soaking storms. Drier-than-normal conditions are predicted statewide through the end of January and into the first week of February. Drought will probably continue to expand across Central and Southern California in the meantime.

Monday breakdown

San Francisco: Lingering fog near the bay shoreline will quickly clear after sunrise as northeast winds push dry air toward the city. Northeast gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected throughout the day, strongest atop hills. Highs will be close to 60 under clear skies. Overnight lows will fall to the low 40s, possibly dipping to the upper 30s near Cole Valley and Glen Park.

North Bay: A wind advisory is in effect for the North Bay interior mountains until 1 a.m. Tuesday for northerly gusts of 35 to 50 mph. Gusts could reach 30 mph in the valleys in the late morning to midafternoon. Highs will be in the low 60s, about 5 degrees above normal for January. Overnight lows will fall to the mid-30s, with areas of frost possible in the valleys.

East Bay: Blustery conditions are expected in the East Bay hills Monday morning, with gusts up to 40 mph possible. Winds won’t be as strong in the lower elevations, and conditions will be pleasant, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s under clear skies. Overnight lows will be in the low to mid-30s in interior valleys, including Concord, Walnut Creek, San Ramon and Livermore. Temperatures will fall to the upper 30s in Berkeley, Oakland, Hayward and Fremont.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Dry winds will quickly scour out patchy morning fog, resulting in clear skies the remainder of the day. Northeast gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected, strongest near Half Moon Bay. Highs will reach the upper 50s to low 60s, a few degrees above average for January. Overnight lows will drop to the upper 30s to mid-40s.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: The gloomy weekend fog may linger Monday morning, but drier winds will push in for a sunny afternoon. Gusts around 30 mph are expected in the hills. Highs will be in the upper 50s to low 60s in Santa Cruz County and low to mid-60s in the South Bay. Overnight temperatures will be very chilly, dropping to the mid-30s in the Santa Clara Valley and close to freezing in Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

Reach Anthony Edwards: anthony.edwards@sfchronicle.com; Threads: @edwardsanthonyb; Bluesky: @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social

Jan 20, 2025

Newsroom Meteorologist

Anthony Edwards is a newsroom meteorologist at The San Francisco Chronicle.

He joins the Chronicle from the University of Washington where he was previously the president of the campus weather forecasting team and an editor at the student newspaper, The Daily UW.

Edwards enjoys exploring San Francisco's parks, playing tennis, hiking, swimming and attending a ballgame when the Mariners visit the Giants and the Athletics.