AFRICA
President Trump Vows to End Birthright Citizenship by Circumventing the Constitution
President Trump vowed to issue a legally dubious executive order to unilaterally end birthright citizenship. It was another dramatic move of the current administration to appeal to voters through tough immigration rhetoric. If Trump’s plan came true, children born on American soil could no longer receive U.S. citizenship were their parents non-citizens or unauthorized immigrants.
So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” Trump said during an interview with Axios. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”
Since his presidential campaign, Trump has been accusing immigrants of bringing crime and danger to America. Earlier this week, he declared that the immigrant caravan from Central America was an “invasion” of the nation, equating Hondurans immigrants with enemies of the United States. After announcing on Monday that he ordered to send 5,200 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, on Wednesday he claimed he planned to increase the number of border military personnel to 15,000.
In fact, Trump’s claim that the U.S. was alone in adopting birthright citizenship laws was incorrect. Actually, a total of 33 countries including Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina all offer unrestricted birthright citizenship.
However, Trump’s false assertion did not stop Republicans from endorsing Trump’s tough stance on immigration. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), for instance, has long set his eyes on “anchor babies” and offered the White House his full support. “This policy is a magnet for illegal immigration, out of the mainstream of the developed world and needs to come to an end,” he said.
Democrats and immigration rights activists, on the other hand, were outraged by Trump’s announcement. They also pointed out the illegality of Trump’s promise.
“Well, you obviously cannot do that. You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) rejected Trump’s plan on radio show WVLK, arguing that it is inconsistent with the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
The announcement bewildered Trump’s own lawyers and advisors as well as white house officials. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, for one, was surprised by and not at all prepared for what the president revealed during the Axios interview. Trump’s legal team has also questioned the legality of such an order.
But Trump himself was confident that he could carry out the executive order by circumventing the Constitution.
“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump said. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”
When asked about the time frame, he did not give a definite answer: “It’s in the process. It’ll happen with an executive order.”
Featured image via Doug Mills/The New York Times