President Donald Trump has wasted no time in enacting his immigration policy. On his first day in office, he issued an executive order that aims to end birthright citizenship, the constitutional provision that automatically grants citizenship to children born in the U.S., regardless of their parent’s status. Attorneys general across the country, including in Oregon, have already sued to block the order. On Wednesday, a federal district court judge in Seattle temporarily blocked the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional,” after attorneys general from Oregon, Washington, Illinois and Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging it.
The administration will also allow immigration authorities to make arrests in traditionally safe spaces such as churches and schools. Local and state officials around the country could also be investigated and prosecuted by the Justice Department for refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement. But Oregon has a longstanding law that specifically prohibits officials from doing just that. Oregon’s new attorney general, Dan Rayfield, joins us to talk about all this and more.
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