Washington During a lengthy Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, President-elect Donald Trump pledged to execute an executive order on his first day in office to terminate the constitutional right to U.S. citizenship for anybody born in the nation.
However, Trump acknowledged that implementing his policy objective of altering the 14th Amendment would present legal challenges.Numerous constitutional law experts have maintained that Trump could not use an executive order to stop birthright citizenship.
We must put an end to it, Trump informed Welker. That is going to end because it is absurd.
Regarding other immigration-related issues, he stated that he is open to reaching an agreement with Democrats to keep so-called Dreamers in the country and that, in his plans for mass deportations, he is in favor of deporting entire families, even if the children are citizens of the United States.
However, he made some of his most in-depth remarks regarding birthright citizenship. Regarding the 14th Amendment, Trump stated, “We’re going to have to get it changed.”
Ratified in 1868
Anyone born in the United States is guaranteed U.S. citizenship under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was enacted in 1868.
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.
According to Trump, if it is possible, he will attempt to terminate birthright citizenship by executive order.
Experts disagree. Gerald Neuman, director of Harvard Law School’s human rights program, and a group of constitutional law experts stated in a 2018 statement that there is currently no significant scholarly discussion regarding whether a president can, through executive action, deviate from the Supreme Court’s long-standing and consistent interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
A constitutional amendment would need to be approved by two-thirds of the U.S. House and Senate, and it would need to be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures in order to become operative. Additionally, two-thirds of state legislatures could summon a convention.
By January, both chambers will be controlled by Republicans, but not by a two-thirds majority.
Trump also falsely asserted in the interview that the US is the only nation with birthright citizenship worldwide.From Canada to Brazil, more than a dozen nations grant birthright citizenship.
Some nations, like France, offer birthright citizenship, but with conditions. For example, a kid must have at least one citizen parent in order to be granted citizenship.
A branch extended to Dreamers
Trump attempted to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program during his first presidency, and Welker questioned him about his intentions for the more than 500,000 Dreamers. A federal court is now deliberating over the DACA program’s legal status.
He claimed that many of these individuals, who were brought here at a very young age, are now middle-aged and do not even speak their own tongue.
Trump did not provide any specifics when he stated that he would collaborate with the Democrats on a proposal.
Welker questioned Trump about the impact on the more than 4 million mixed-status families—that is, families with varying immigration statuses—of his mass deportation plans, which included a campaign promise to deport millions of unauthorized individuals.
Trump stated, “I don’t want to be tearing families apart.” Therefore, the only option to keep the family intact is to send them all back together.
Welker inquired as to whether that applied to children who were legally present.
If they wish to remain with the father, what will you do? Trump stated. Rules and regulations are necessary.
When asked repeatedly if he would reinstate family separation, one of his most severe immigration policies that split parents from their children at the border, Trump remained silent. About 25% of children are still separated from their parents, even though the majority have been reunited.
Trump stated that families don’t have to be split up. We will gently return the entire family to their home country.
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