President Trump expects to end birthright citizenship with support from Supreme Court
Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Fri, January 31, 2025
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said Thursday he expects the U.S. Supreme Court will side with him in the legal fight over ending citizenship for the children of immigrants in the country without legal authorization.
A federal judge has blocked Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are both in the country without authorization. But when asked whether he expected at least five of the nine members of the high court to support his position, Trump said yes.
"I think so, yeah," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after signing unrelated executive orders. "I just think we’ll end up winning in court, in the Supreme Court. I think we’re going to win that case. I look forward to winning it."
Trump's policy appears to clash with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution approved in 1868. The amendment 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."
Trump signed the executive order on his first day in office Jan. 20. Trump argued the amendment applied to the children of former slaves, which he called "good and noble," but that it is no longer tenable with international migration.
What the Trump administration means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” in blocking it. But Trump said he would ultimately win if and when his efforts reach the Supreme Court.
“Birthright citizenship, if you look back at when this was passed – made – that was meant for the children of slaves," Trump said. "This was not meant for the whole world to come in and pile into the United States of America. Everybody coming in and totally unqualified people and with perhaps unqualified children. This wasn’t meant for that."
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said Thursday he expects the U.S. Supreme Court will side with him in the legal fight over ending citizenship for the children of immigrants in the country without legal authorization.
A federal judge has blocked Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are both in the country without authorization. But when asked whether he expected at least five of the nine members of the high court to support his position, Trump said yes.
"I think so, yeah," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after signing unrelated executive orders. "I just think we’ll end up winning in court, in the Supreme Court. I think we’re going to win that case. I look forward to winning it."
Trump's policy appears to clash with the 14th Amendment to the Constitution approved in 1868. The amendment 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."
Trump signed the executive order on his first day in office Jan. 20. Trump argued the amendment applied to the children of former slaves, which he called "good and noble," but that it is no longer tenable with international migration.
What the Trump administration means for you: Sign up for USA TODAY's On Politics newsletter.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” in blocking it. But Trump said he would ultimately win if and when his efforts reach the Supreme Court.
“Birthright citizenship, if you look back at when this was passed – made – that was meant for the children of slaves," Trump said. "This was not meant for the whole world to come in and pile into the United States of America. Everybody coming in and totally unqualified people and with perhaps unqualified children. This wasn’t meant for that."
El Paso County joins legal battle against Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship
Adam Powell, El Paso Times
Wed, January 29, 2025
El Paso County is joining the fight against President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents without legal immigration status.
The El Paso County Commissioners Court approved on Monday, Jan. 27, filing the suit, which argues that Trump's order — entitled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" — violates the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction, and conflicts with the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“This executive order is a direct challenge to constitutional principles that have defined who we are as a nation,” El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez said in a statement Wednesday, Jan. 29. “Joining this legal fight is essential to protect the rights of children in our community and to ensure no family faces unjust barriers to opportunity.”

El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez stands for a portrait outside the El Paso County Court House on Tuesday, June 25, 2023.
Trump announced his order on birthright citizenship on the first day of his second term and immediately faced pushback. The following day, 18 states filed suit, and within the week, a federal judge blocked the order.
For Sanchez, the order's implications could be dire.
“This order threatens to deprive vulnerable children of healthcare, food assistance, and other basic needs,” Sanchez said. “It also risks creating a permanent underclass in our society, harming education outcomes, public health, and local economies. This is something we cannot allow to happen."
Trump's order, however, if allowed to stand, would become effective 30 days after it was signed on Jan. 20 and only affect people born after that date. The order effectively makes new exceptions for birthright citizenship to include the following:
A person whose mother "was unlawfully present in the United States" and whose "father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth;"
A person whose "mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under a Visa Waiver Program or on a student, work, or tourist visa)" and whose "father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."
The suit calls for a nationwide injunction to stop the order.
“Protecting our community means fighting against policies that undermine fairness and equality,” Sanchez said. “We will continue to stand firm in our commitment to justice and to the well-being of El Paso families.”
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.

President Donald Trump this week issued an executive order barring birthright citizenship to children of undocumented residents. Here, Trump speaks during a Get Out The Vote campaign rally at Coastal Carolina University on Feb. 10, 2024, in Conway, South Carolina.
Trump's DOJ Responds To Pregnant Women Suing To Protect Birthright Citizenship
Pocharapon Neammanee
Sat, February 1, 2025
The Trump administration responded on Friday to a lawsuit filed on behalf of five pregnant women who challenged his executive order to end birthright citizenship.
The case, filed in Maryland federal court in January, challenges President Donald Trump’s order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” that seeks to make it so that that children born in the United States to parents who are undocumented immigrants or who are in the country on a temporary legal basis will not automatically be United States citizens.
In an opposition motion filed against the women on Friday, the Department of Justice characterized the order as “common sense.”
“Monica,” a Venezuelan-born medical doctor now living in South Carolina under temporary protected status, is one of the five represented in the case. She is due in August, and stated in her declaration to the court that she is frightened for her child because she cannot return to her country for citizenship.
“There is no Venezuelan Consulate in the United States where I could
even apply for Venezuelan citizenship for my baby, and we would have to travel outside of the U.S. in order to obtain a Venezuelan passport for our child,” Monica wrote in her declaration.
“I was very shocked,” Monica told The Guardian. “This is a right that is in the constitution of this country — so you cannot imagine that they would take it away just because.”
The complaint, filed by immigrant advocacy groups Casa, Inc. and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, called the executive order, a “flagrant violation” of the Citizenship Clause in 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The Citizenship Clause states that “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.”
According to the logic of Trump’s order, the children of undocumented immigrants are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and thus the 14th Amendment does not apply to them.
Monica, along with the four other women represented in the case, stated in their declaration they are afraid to use their full names in the litigation out of fear of retaliation from the government, which for some may include deportation.
The advocacy groups also filed a temporary restraining order blocking the policy from going into effect, arguing that it would cause “irreparable harm.” The restraining order cites a previous legal case, calling the executive order “a form of punishment more primitive than torture,” by making a baby born in the U.S stateless.
One of the women, Liza, stated in her sworn declaration that she fears returning back to her home country of Russia out of fear of persecution, and thus wouldn’t be able to secure a Russian passport for her child.
“When I heard that President Trump signed an Executive Order that would deny my child United States citizenship, my world fell apart,” she said.
Federal district court Judge John Coughenour of Washington state temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order last week in a separate filing, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“I have been on the bench for over four decades,” Coughenour reportedly said. “I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear.”
In the opposition motion filed Friday, the Justice Department defended the executive order, arguing the Constitution does not entitle “the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws” to citizenship.
The filing characterized claims that the executive order is illegal as “dramatic assertions.” It quoted Trump’s claims that immigrants in the U.S unlawfully are a threat to national security, and argued that the situation warrants a “full panoply of immigration measures,” including the executive order.
The motion also echoed the executive order’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The DOJ wrote that a person under the “jurisdiction” of the U.S. must have a “direct and immediate allegiance,” which would not apply to “foreigners admitted temporarily or individuals here illegally.”
Daniella Silva
Sat, February 1, 2025

Liza and her husband, who are Russian immigrants, are expecting their first child in May.
Nivida, an immigrant from Honduras who is in her late 20s, expects to give birth to a boy in April. What would normally be a time of excitement for her growing family is instead shadowed by a deep fear that they will be torn apart.
President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship could mean their baby would be left without the same rights as their other child, who was born in Louisiana as an American citizen.
Nivida is from Honduras and her husband is from Mexico, they currently live in Louisiana. Her husband has an open application for a special visa for victims of a crime that could eventually lead to lawful permanent residency, a process that could take years, according to Nivida and court documents from the advocacy group representing her case. She had an initial asylum application in the immigration court that was recently dismissed, according to Nivida the court documents, but is still able to file another asylum case with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Nivida's U.S.-born first child touches her belly.
“I don’t want them to take away the citizenship of innocent babies born here, it shouldn’t matter the status of their parents, their race, their color, they shouldn’t be discriminated against,” said Nivida in Spanish, who asked that her full name not be used out of fear of immigration reprisal and her safety. “I believe violating the protection that the Constitution gives to a child born here is violating his or her rights as an individual.”
Last week, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the immigrant services organization CASA and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law filed a lawsuit on behalf of five pregnant women and ASAP and CASA’s members against Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, which he called “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
About two dozen states have also filed lawsuits against the Trump administration contesting the order, which experts say violates the 14th Amendment, which 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.”
Nivida, who is a member of ASAP, said she decided to speak out on behalf of the thousands of pregnant women and their babies who will be impacted by the order if it’s allowed to take effect in late February. She and others came to the United States seeking protection and stability but now find their unborn babies’ futures uncertain, according to the lawsuit.
Trump’s executive order attempts to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident. It also states that those born to parents who are in the country legally, but temporarily, will no longer be automatically guaranteed citizenship, including high-skill work visas like the H1B and student visas like the F1. But legal experts say the true scope of the order is unclear and could lead some children to be temporarily stateless.
Meny, a pregnant asylum seeker from Honduras who is also a member of ASAP, said the order “creates a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear” and has taken an emotional toll on her family.
She and her partner both have open asylum cases claiming political persecution before USCIS, have been legally working in California and are “very grateful to this country because really we have had so many great opportunities here,” said Meny, who is in her mid-30s and asked that her full name not be used out of fear of immigration reprisal.

Meny is due in July.
“The news is very shocking, we really hope it doesn’t come to be,” she said in Spanish. “As moms, of course we want what’s best for our children. It’s a great concern.”
Meny, who is due in July, said she feels desperate thinking of her baby’s future and the rights her child may not have as Trump enacts his anti-immigration agenda. Meny said that as an asylum seeker fleeing prosecution, returning to her home country is not an option.
“Being immigrants doesn’t mean we’re enemies of this country. The majority of us come here for reasons of survival,” she said.
Liza and her husband, who are Russian immigrants, are expecting their first child in May. She heard from a friend that Trump was considering restricting birthright citizenship, but thought, “no, it can’t be true” as she understood the right to be a part of the U.S. Constitution.
“My husband and I were shocked that it actually happened,” said Liza, who has asked that her full name not be used for fear of immigration reprisal, adding that the two couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact “that this is going to be reality.”
Liza, one of the five women who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said her husband has an open asylum case because of persecution in Russia and she is currently on a student visa while getting her master’s degree. Liza, who is in her late 20s, said she fears her baby will be left stateless if her child is denied birthright citizenship as they do not feel safe applying for Russian citizenship for their baby as asylum seekers fleeing Russia. As a former independent journalist in Russia, Liza and her family are fleeing persecution and said “I don’t really have an option to go back there.” Even though there is a Russian Embassy in the United States, she said it is not safe for her and her husband to go there as asylum seekers.
She said her biggest fears are that she and her family may be “arrested, deported, taken back to Russia, and the baby will be, will be separated from us.”
Last week, a federal district court judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order. In that case, Trump’s Justice Department lawyers told the judge that the birthright citizenship order was an “integral part” of Trump’s efforts to “address this nation’s broken immigration system and the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”
Nivida, Meny and Liza all said they were shocked when Trump issued the order as it shook their belief in the Constitution and the rule of law in the United States.
Liza said she was still hopeful in the court system of the United States as “those courts are not like courts in Russia who do whatever they are told to do.”
When Nivida first heard Trump’s promise to end birthright citizenship on the campaign trail, she said she was not yet alarmed because of the faith she had in America’s democracy and the rule of law.
“These were things I really admired. Now, I have a lot of doubts,” she said.
Adam Powell, El Paso Times
Wed, January 29, 2025
El Paso County is joining the fight against President Donald Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents without legal immigration status.
The El Paso County Commissioners Court approved on Monday, Jan. 27, filing the suit, which argues that Trump's order — entitled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" — violates the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction, and conflicts with the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“This executive order is a direct challenge to constitutional principles that have defined who we are as a nation,” El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez said in a statement Wednesday, Jan. 29. “Joining this legal fight is essential to protect the rights of children in our community and to ensure no family faces unjust barriers to opportunity.”
El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez stands for a portrait outside the El Paso County Court House on Tuesday, June 25, 2023.
Trump announced his order on birthright citizenship on the first day of his second term and immediately faced pushback. The following day, 18 states filed suit, and within the week, a federal judge blocked the order.
For Sanchez, the order's implications could be dire.
“This order threatens to deprive vulnerable children of healthcare, food assistance, and other basic needs,” Sanchez said. “It also risks creating a permanent underclass in our society, harming education outcomes, public health, and local economies. This is something we cannot allow to happen."
Trump's order, however, if allowed to stand, would become effective 30 days after it was signed on Jan. 20 and only affect people born after that date. The order effectively makes new exceptions for birthright citizenship to include the following:
A person whose mother "was unlawfully present in the United States" and whose "father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth;"
A person whose "mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under a Visa Waiver Program or on a student, work, or tourist visa)" and whose "father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."
The suit calls for a nationwide injunction to stop the order.
“Protecting our community means fighting against policies that undermine fairness and equality,” Sanchez said. “We will continue to stand firm in our commitment to justice and to the well-being of El Paso families.”
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
President Donald Trump this week issued an executive order barring birthright citizenship to children of undocumented residents. Here, Trump speaks during a Get Out The Vote campaign rally at Coastal Carolina University on Feb. 10, 2024, in Conway, South Carolina.
Trump's DOJ Responds To Pregnant Women Suing To Protect Birthright Citizenship
Pocharapon Neammanee
Sat, February 1, 2025
The Trump administration responded on Friday to a lawsuit filed on behalf of five pregnant women who challenged his executive order to end birthright citizenship.
The case, filed in Maryland federal court in January, challenges President Donald Trump’s order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” that seeks to make it so that that children born in the United States to parents who are undocumented immigrants or who are in the country on a temporary legal basis will not automatically be United States citizens.
In an opposition motion filed against the women on Friday, the Department of Justice characterized the order as “common sense.”
“Monica,” a Venezuelan-born medical doctor now living in South Carolina under temporary protected status, is one of the five represented in the case. She is due in August, and stated in her declaration to the court that she is frightened for her child because she cannot return to her country for citizenship.
“There is no Venezuelan Consulate in the United States where I could
even apply for Venezuelan citizenship for my baby, and we would have to travel outside of the U.S. in order to obtain a Venezuelan passport for our child,” Monica wrote in her declaration.
“I was very shocked,” Monica told The Guardian. “This is a right that is in the constitution of this country — so you cannot imagine that they would take it away just because.”
The complaint, filed by immigrant advocacy groups Casa, Inc. and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, called the executive order, a “flagrant violation” of the Citizenship Clause in 14th Amendment of the Constitution. The Citizenship Clause states that “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.”
According to the logic of Trump’s order, the children of undocumented immigrants are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and thus the 14th Amendment does not apply to them.
Monica, along with the four other women represented in the case, stated in their declaration they are afraid to use their full names in the litigation out of fear of retaliation from the government, which for some may include deportation.
The advocacy groups also filed a temporary restraining order blocking the policy from going into effect, arguing that it would cause “irreparable harm.” The restraining order cites a previous legal case, calling the executive order “a form of punishment more primitive than torture,” by making a baby born in the U.S stateless.
One of the women, Liza, stated in her sworn declaration that she fears returning back to her home country of Russia out of fear of persecution, and thus wouldn’t be able to secure a Russian passport for her child.
“When I heard that President Trump signed an Executive Order that would deny my child United States citizenship, my world fell apart,” she said.
Federal district court Judge John Coughenour of Washington state temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order last week in a separate filing, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“I have been on the bench for over four decades,” Coughenour reportedly said. “I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear.”
In the opposition motion filed Friday, the Justice Department defended the executive order, arguing the Constitution does not entitle “the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws” to citizenship.
The filing characterized claims that the executive order is illegal as “dramatic assertions.” It quoted Trump’s claims that immigrants in the U.S unlawfully are a threat to national security, and argued that the situation warrants a “full panoply of immigration measures,” including the executive order.
The motion also echoed the executive order’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment. The DOJ wrote that a person under the “jurisdiction” of the U.S. must have a “direct and immediate allegiance,” which would not apply to “foreigners admitted temporarily or individuals here illegally.”
The pregnant women who fear Trump’s birthright citizenship order
Daniella Silva
Sat, February 1, 2025
Liza and her husband, who are Russian immigrants, are expecting their first child in May.
Nivida, an immigrant from Honduras who is in her late 20s, expects to give birth to a boy in April. What would normally be a time of excitement for her growing family is instead shadowed by a deep fear that they will be torn apart.
President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship could mean their baby would be left without the same rights as their other child, who was born in Louisiana as an American citizen.
Nivida is from Honduras and her husband is from Mexico, they currently live in Louisiana. Her husband has an open application for a special visa for victims of a crime that could eventually lead to lawful permanent residency, a process that could take years, according to Nivida and court documents from the advocacy group representing her case. She had an initial asylum application in the immigration court that was recently dismissed, according to Nivida the court documents, but is still able to file another asylum case with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Nivida's U.S.-born first child touches her belly.
“I don’t want them to take away the citizenship of innocent babies born here, it shouldn’t matter the status of their parents, their race, their color, they shouldn’t be discriminated against,” said Nivida in Spanish, who asked that her full name not be used out of fear of immigration reprisal and her safety. “I believe violating the protection that the Constitution gives to a child born here is violating his or her rights as an individual.”
Last week, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the immigrant services organization CASA and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law filed a lawsuit on behalf of five pregnant women and ASAP and CASA’s members against Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, which he called “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
About two dozen states have also filed lawsuits against the Trump administration contesting the order, which experts say violates the 14th Amendment, which 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.”
Nivida, who is a member of ASAP, said she decided to speak out on behalf of the thousands of pregnant women and their babies who will be impacted by the order if it’s allowed to take effect in late February. She and others came to the United States seeking protection and stability but now find their unborn babies’ futures uncertain, according to the lawsuit.
Trump’s executive order attempts to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident. It also states that those born to parents who are in the country legally, but temporarily, will no longer be automatically guaranteed citizenship, including high-skill work visas like the H1B and student visas like the F1. But legal experts say the true scope of the order is unclear and could lead some children to be temporarily stateless.
Meny, a pregnant asylum seeker from Honduras who is also a member of ASAP, said the order “creates a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear” and has taken an emotional toll on her family.
She and her partner both have open asylum cases claiming political persecution before USCIS, have been legally working in California and are “very grateful to this country because really we have had so many great opportunities here,” said Meny, who is in her mid-30s and asked that her full name not be used out of fear of immigration reprisal.
Meny is due in July.
“The news is very shocking, we really hope it doesn’t come to be,” she said in Spanish. “As moms, of course we want what’s best for our children. It’s a great concern.”
Meny, who is due in July, said she feels desperate thinking of her baby’s future and the rights her child may not have as Trump enacts his anti-immigration agenda. Meny said that as an asylum seeker fleeing prosecution, returning to her home country is not an option.
“Being immigrants doesn’t mean we’re enemies of this country. The majority of us come here for reasons of survival,” she said.
Liza and her husband, who are Russian immigrants, are expecting their first child in May. She heard from a friend that Trump was considering restricting birthright citizenship, but thought, “no, it can’t be true” as she understood the right to be a part of the U.S. Constitution.
“My husband and I were shocked that it actually happened,” said Liza, who has asked that her full name not be used for fear of immigration reprisal, adding that the two couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact “that this is going to be reality.”
Liza, one of the five women who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said her husband has an open asylum case because of persecution in Russia and she is currently on a student visa while getting her master’s degree. Liza, who is in her late 20s, said she fears her baby will be left stateless if her child is denied birthright citizenship as they do not feel safe applying for Russian citizenship for their baby as asylum seekers fleeing Russia. As a former independent journalist in Russia, Liza and her family are fleeing persecution and said “I don’t really have an option to go back there.” Even though there is a Russian Embassy in the United States, she said it is not safe for her and her husband to go there as asylum seekers.
She said her biggest fears are that she and her family may be “arrested, deported, taken back to Russia, and the baby will be, will be separated from us.”
Last week, a federal district court judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order. In that case, Trump’s Justice Department lawyers told the judge that the birthright citizenship order was an “integral part” of Trump’s efforts to “address this nation’s broken immigration system and the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”
Nivida, Meny and Liza all said they were shocked when Trump issued the order as it shook their belief in the Constitution and the rule of law in the United States.
Liza said she was still hopeful in the court system of the United States as “those courts are not like courts in Russia who do whatever they are told to do.”
When Nivida first heard Trump’s promise to end birthright citizenship on the campaign trail, she said she was not yet alarmed because of the faith she had in America’s democracy and the rule of law.
“These were things I really admired. Now, I have a lot of doubts,” she said.
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