President Trump goes against US constitution to eliminate birthright citizenship
Trump seeks to end birthright citizenship with an executive order, challenging a constitutional amendment that has been in place for more than a century.
He made the statement on Axios on HBO: "How ridiculous, 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," said the President, "it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous and it has to end."
Yet it is not true that the US is the only country to do so, with 32 other countries granting a form of birthright citizenship, like Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Jamaica.
The 14th Amendment states that all persons born in the US are citizens, and this applies to non-citizen legal residents, though the Supreme Court has yet to decide a case involving an illegal immigrant or a short-term visitor, according to CBS News.
However, though he says “it’s in the process” and that “it’ll happen with an executive order”, some constitutional scholars say the right is protected by the 14th Amendment, and cannot be revoked with a simple executive order.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally, told NBC News that "[t]his policy is a magnet for illegal immigration, out of the mainstream of the developed world, and needs to come to an end".
By: Ana Hernandez