Wilmington immigration lawyer reacts to Supreme Court birthright decision

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — On Tuesday, in a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship, striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order and finding it unlawful.

Here in the Cape Fear, reactions poured in following the decision.

Helen Tarokic, an immigration law specialist based in Wilmington, said the wait for the ruling was emotional because of the impact it would have on families across the country.

“My reaction has been an emotional one, and I know this is a matter of law, but it really brought to us today the meaning of holding your breath, waiting with bated breath,” Tarokic said. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe waiting for the decision to come out, and now that it has, and it protects birthright citizenship, I feel like there will be millions of people able to sleep tonight.”

Tarokic said President Trump’s executive order sought to limit automatic U.S. citizenship for some children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

“The executive order was saying that people who are born in the United States, subject to its jurisdiction, would be U.S. citizens, but if you are a foreign national visiting on a tourist visa, for example, and then you have a child born in the United States, then you’re more subject to the jurisdiction of the country you came from and not the one that you’re currently in when having the baby,” Tarokic said.

She argued the legal reasoning behind the order conflicted with longstanding constitutional interpretation.

“It was all twisted rationale. It didn’t make sense to me legally,” she said. “The idea was that if the child wasn’t born to U.S. citizen parents, that the child themselves would not be a U.S. citizen. I think the problem with the reasoning is that this all comes down to constitutional law that was created, in large part, to provide citizenship to all those born in the United States physically.”

Despite Tuesday’s ruling, Tarokic said she expects the Trump Administration and congressional Republicans to continue pursuing changes to U.S. immigration policy through legislation and other legal avenues.

“I’m definitely saying that in terms of trying to walk back laws that Congress put in place to legalize immigration status or to provide for a U.S. citizenship pathway, we’re definitely seeing a lot of movement there on walking it back or restricting it, they’re really working on ending immigration — both lawful pathways for visas or green cards that are already on the books in terms of the laws, and also working toward blocking a lot of humanitarian immigration options, for example,” she said.

Tarokic said she had not yet spoken with her clients following the ruling but expected to receive messages from many who were relieved by the court’s decision.

“As an immigration attorney, I obviously am trying to do the best that I can and make sure that every one of our clients has a fighting chance, that they know the risks and the benefits of filing, and that we’ll be successful, ultimately, in their cases,” Tarokic said. “We’ll do our best to try to win.”