Washington (AP) In order to fulfill his campaign pledges to limit immigration and redefine what it means to be American, President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to abolish birthright citizenship as soon as he takes office.
However, there would be significant legal obstacles to any attempts to stop the policy.
Anyone born in the United States is automatically granted U.S. citizenship by virtue of birthright. It has been in effect for decades and covers children born to foreign nationals who are either in the country illegally or who are in the country on a tourist or student visa with the intention of returning home.
Not all nations follow this procedure, and Trump and his followers have said that the system is being misused and that more requirements should be placed on obtaining U.S. citizenship.
Others, however, contend that this is a constitutional right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, that it would be very difficult to overturn, and that even if it were feasible, it would be a horrible idea.
Here is a look at Trump’s remarks regarding birthright citizenship and the likelihood that it will be abolished:
Trump’s remarks regarding birthright citizenship
In his appearance with NBC’s Meet the Press on SundayTrump declared that once he took office, he would definitely stop granting birthright citizenship.
He declared, “We’re going to end that because it’s ridiculous.”
According to Trump and other opponents of birthright citizenship, it encourages people to enter the country illegally or engage in birth tourism, where pregnant women travel to the country expressly to give birth so that their unborn children can obtain citizenship before they return home.
According to Eric Ruark, head of research for NumbersUSA, an organization that promotes immigration reduction, merely crossing the border and having a kid should not grant citizenship. The group is in favor of legislation requiring that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or a permanent legal resident in order for their children to automatically become Americans.
Others contend that the nation would suffer significant harm if birthright citizenship were abolished.
The fact that those born here are citizens and not members of an illegal underclass is one of our main advantages. According to Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy research at the pro-immigration Cato Institute, birthright citizenship has improved the assimilation and integration of immigrants and their offspring.
According to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute, 5.5 million children under the age of 18 were living in the country illegally with at least one parent in 2019. This amounts to 7% of all children in the United States. Most of those kids were citizens of the United States.
During Trump’s 2015 presidential campaign, the nonpartisan think tank predicted that if birthright citizenship were abolished, the number of illegal immigrants in the nation would skyrocket, resulting in a self-sustaining class that would be shut out of society for years.
What is stated in the law?
The 14th Amendment was approved by Congress in July 1868 following the Civil War. All citizens, including Black people, were guaranteed citizenship by that amendment.
According to the 14th Amendment, everyone born or naturalized in the United States and falling under its jurisdiction is a citizen of both the United States and the state in which they currently reside. No State may enact or execute legislation that restricts the rights or privileges of US citizens.
Nevertheless, birthright citizenship was not always granted by the 14th Amendment. For instance, Congress did not confer citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States until 1924.
When the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1898 that Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese immigrant born in San Francisco, was a citizen of the United States due to his state birth, it was a significant decision in the history of birthright citizenship. After a journey overseas, the federal authorities attempted to bar him from returning to the country on the grounds that, according to the Chinese Exclusion Act, he was not a citizen.
The 1898 ruling, according to some, plainly related to children born to parents who were both lawful immigrants in the United States, but it’s unclear if this also applies to children born to parents who don’t have legal status or who are just in the country temporarily, such as on a tourist visa.
On this, that is the most prominent case. According to Andrew Arthur, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for immigration limits, it’s actually the only case on this. Contrary to popular belief, the legal question is far more open.
The 14th Amendment’s phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has been used by some advocates of immigration restrictions to claim that the United States can refuse citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants. When Trump declared in 2023 that he would seek to abolish birthright citizenship if reelected, he used those same words.
What then could Trump do, and would it work?
Trump’s plan to abolish birthright citizenship was unclear in his interview on Sunday.
Trump responded, “Well, we’re going to have to get it changed,” when asked how he might circumvent the 14th Amendment through an executive action. We may need to return to the people. But we must put an end to it. Trump responded, “If we can, through executive action,” when asked if he would use an executive order.
In a 2023 post on his campaign website, he provided a lot more information. In it, he stated that on the first day of his president, he would issue an executive order explicitly stating that government agencies must have at least one U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident in order for their future children to automatically become citizens of the United States.
According to Trump, the executive order will explicitly state that children of illegal immigrants should not be granted passports, Social Security numbers, or eligibility for some social programs that are paid for by taxpayers.
Litigation would very probably result from this.
The law makes it plain that birthright citizenship cannot be terminated by presidential order, but Trump might be willing to try in court nevertheless, according to Nowrasteh of the Cato Institute.
His words are not taken seriously by me. According to Nowrasteh, he has been stating similar things for nearly ten years. When he was president, he did little to advance this goal. His legal theory that children of illegal immigrants born in the United States are not citizens is almost universally rejected by the judiciary and the law.
Trump might persuade Congress to enact legislation terminating birthright citizenship, but he would still be challenged in court for violating the Constitution.
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This article was written by Elliot Spagat, a writer for the Associated Press in San Diego.
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