Trump says he will end birthright citizenship for those who illegally enter US
Mabinty Quarshie
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Former President Donald Trump is pledging to end birthright citizenship through an executive order on his first day in office if he is reelected to a second term in 2024.
Trump’s plan, released via a three-minute Agenda 47 video on Tuesday, vowed to “put America first” by blocking birthright citizenship, part of his attempt to deter illegal immigration.
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“As part of my plan to secure the border on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship,” Trump said in the video.
“My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries,” Trump continued.
As Trump tries for the third time to win a bid for the White House, he faces more political headwinds than he did in 2020 and arguably in 2016. Other Republican candidates running for president, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have lambasted Trump for losing his presidential bid in 2020 and are calling, both subtly and outright, for a generational change in GOP leadership.
Republicans looking to move away from Trump have begun questioning why he did not build a wall on the southern border when the GOP controlled Congress and the White House. DeSantis has also criticized Trump for running toward the Left during the 2024 race, and previously announced he was sending troops to aid Texas in defending the southern border. Curbing illegal immigration is a staple that many conservatives, who will decide the Republican presidential nomination, are looking to hear from 2024 hopefuls.
Trump, never one to misunderstand his base, hit on many other points in the campaign video, including slamming President Joe Biden.
“My order will also end the unfair practice known as birth tourism where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the planet squat in hotels for their last few weeks of pregnancy to illegitimately and illegally obtain U.S. citizenship for the child,” Trump said. “Often to later exploit chain migration to jump the line and get green cards for themselves and their family members.”
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Trump also went on to say that in order to qualify for birthright citizenship, “at least one parent will have to be a citizen or a legal resident.”
In 2018 and 2019, Trump flirted with ending birthright citizenship, but it would likely face legal challenges given the 14th Amendment’s phrasing, which 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.” Another factor hindering Trump’s plans is an 1898 Supreme Court ruling, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which allowed a man born to parents of Chinese descent in the U.S. to retain citizenship.