In a new “Agenda 47” video released on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump pledged to end birthright citizenship on “day one” of his administration if elected in 2024.
“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 beginning of the video.
Speaking about the border crisis in the video, former President Trump tore into what he characterized as Biden’s lackluster response to the situation and highlighted the massive scope of the problem, saying:
“Joe Biden has launched an illegal foreign invasion of our country allowing a record number of illegal aliens to storm across our borders. From all over the world, they came. Under Biden’s current policies, even though these millions of illegal border crossers have entered the country unlawfully, all of their future children will become automatic U.S. citizens. Can you imagine? They’ll be eligible for welfare, taxpayer-funded healthcare, the right to vote, chain migration, and countless other government benefits, many of which will also profit the illegal alien parents. This policy is a reward for breaking the laws of the United States and is obviously a magnet helping draw the flood of illegals across our borders. They come by the millions and millions and millions.”
He then argued that his ending birthright citizenship for illegals would destroy one of the incentives bringing them here, saying:
“It’s things like this that bring millions of people to our country. They enter our country illegally. 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. They must go back. Nobody could afford this. Nobody could do this—and even morally it’s so wrong.”
“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, often to later exploit chain migration to jump the line and get green cards for themselves and their family members. It’s a practice that’s so horrible and so egregious, but we let it go forward. At least one parent will have to be a citizen or a legal resident in order to qualify,” he added.
The Washington Examiner noted that the order would likely face the same sort of legal challenge as many of his policies in his first administration, saying:
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.
Watch the video here:
"*" indicates required fields