President Trump doubled down on his intention to issue an executive order to halt birthright citizenship, claiming it isn’t guaranteed by the 14th Amendment because the language is open to interpretation.
“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,” the president wrote on Twitter. “It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ Many legal scholars agree.”
Nearly an hour later, Trump returned to the issue.
“Harry Reid was right in 1993, before he and the Democrats went insane and started with the Open Borders (which brings massive Crime) ‘stuff.’ Don’t forget the nasty term Anchor Babies. I will keep our Country safe. This case will be settled by the United States Supreme Court!,” he said.
Trump was referring to the then-Senate Democratic leader’s comments that the US rewards people who enter the country illegally and have a child with citizenship for that child.
Anchor babies are children born to an illegal immigrant mother, who become US citizens and are then used to bring in other family members living abroad.
Trump first raised the 14th Amendment in a snippet of an interview with “Axios on HBO” released Tuesday, saying he wanted to end the constitutional guarantee that babies born on American soil would immediately become citizens.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits,” Trump said. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”
His plan to stop birthright citizenship by executive order was quickly criticized by House Speaker Paul Ryan.
“Well, you obviously cannot do that. You know, as a conservative, I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process,” the Wisconsin Republican told Kentucky radio station WVLK.
The 14th Amendment says in part: “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.”
Many legal scholars said the language is not open to interpretation because the wording is clear that except for diplomats, noncitizens are “subject to the jurisdiction” of American laws.