Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is leading 18 Republican-led states in defending President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.

On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order to revoke birthright citizenship. It quickly faced legal challenges from across the country, including a temporary block ordered by a federal district court judge.

The case argues birthright citizenship incentivizes illegal border crossings and ending it will stop pregnant women from crossing the border to give birth in the United States.

"President Trump is right: we must restore the meaning and value of American citizenship," Bird said in a news release. "For too long, mass numbers of illegal aliens and foreign tourists -- especially from China -- have been entering our country just to give birth here and hand their kids American citizenship. On top of that, taxpayers are on the hook to pay for it. I'm defending President Trump's executive order that closes the birthright citizenship loophole and eliminates the incentive for illegal immigration. No one should be rewarded for breaking the law."

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Under the Fourteenth Amendment, birthright citizenship is granted to those who are born in the United States or who have a parent with U.S. citizenship. A clause in the amendment 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 case argues that Trump's executive order is constitutional under an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment that would not grant birthright citizenship to those who were born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents.

The day after Trump issued the executive order, a group of 18 Democratic state attorneys general moved to block it. Washington D.C. and the city of San Francisco also filed lawsuits.

States joining the case led by Bird include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

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