An executive order is “in the process”.
President Donald Trump has announced plans to sign an executive order that would remove the right to citizenship for children of non-citizens and unauthorised immigrants born on US soil.
During an interview with Axios on HBO, Trump was asked about the idea of removing birthright citizenship, which is addressed in the 14th amendment of the US Constitution.
Trump said that his planned changes could be made via an executive order, meaning he wouldn’t need to change the constitution in order to introduce changes to the 14th amendment.
“Yes, it was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. You don’t,” Trump said.
“Number one: you don’t need that. Number two: You could definitely do it with an Act of Congress. Now, they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order. 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. It’s ridiculous and it has to end.”
The US president added that the legislation is “in the process” and that “it will happen.”
It’s worth noting that Trump was informed that requiring only an executive order to implement changes was “in dispute” and that any changes to legislation would likely face various legal challenges as the courts would have to conduct a constitutional debate over the 14th Amendment.
The 14th amendment states: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The sentence that follows specifies citizen rights and reads: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
A similar issue recently came to the fore in Ireland after a primary school in Bray fought to stop the deportation of 9-year-old student, Eric Zhi Ying Xue, who was born in Ireland.
Eric’s mother is a Chinese citizen, but Eric is not. This means that he will not enjoy the rights of a Chinese citizen in China, if he’s deported.
The referendum on the 27th Amendment of the Irish Constitution took place in 2004 and 79% of the electorate voted to ensure that children born in Ireland to two foreign parents would have no right to citizenship.
At the time, the amendment was opposed by the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties — as well as Labour, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and the Green Party.
Below is the most pertinent section of Trump’s interview with Axios, where he speaks about birthright citizenship…
Clip via Axios
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