BOULDER, COLO. — Thurs., April 23, 2026 — Boulder County District Attorney and candidate for Colorado Attorney General Michael Dougherty has joined a multistate amicus brief opposing former President Donald Trump’s attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, calling the effort “legally baseless and fundamentally un-American.”

The brief defends the plain meaning of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. This constitutional right and principle has been settled law for more than 150 years and affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898).

“Birthright citizenship is not a policy preference – it is a constitutional guarantee,” said Dougherty. “The idea that any president could unilaterally strip citizenship from people born in this country ignores the Constitution, decades of precedent, and the rule of law itself. Thousands of people have relied on this constitutional right in building their lives and families in the United States.”

The amicus brief warns that the proposed revocation would have sweeping and harmful consequences nationwide, including in Colorado. It argues that narrowing birthright citizenship would prevent children born in the United States from fully participating in American life, while creating a permanent, multigenerational underclass.

“Children born here should not grow up under a cloud of uncertainty about whether they belong in the only country they have ever known,” Dougherty said. “This kind of reckless legal theory would leave some children stateless, expose families to instability, and undermine core American values of fairness and equality.”

The brief further highlights that, under the proposed approach, some children could be left without any citizenship at all, making them vulnerable to discrimination, exclusion, and the constant threat of deportation.

“As Attorney General, I will stand up for the Constitution and fight any effort that puts politics above the rule of law,” Dougherty added. “Colorado families deserve leaders who will defend their rights – not try to take them away.”

Dougherty joined the brief alongside attorneys general and legal leaders from across the country committed to upholding constitutional protections and opposing unlawful executive overreach.