
Trump Challenges Birthright Citizenship
His executive order to end the practice of granting citizenship to babies born to illegal aliens will likely rise all the way to the Supreme Court.
Among President Donald Trump’s litany of executive orders, none has seemingly caused more consternation across the board than his order directing the U.S. government to stop granting citizenship documentation to babies born in America to parents who are noncitizens and in the country illegally.
He pondered doing so in his first term. Now he has. His order, dubbed “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” asserts that the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to freed slaves following the Civil War, “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” The order further observes, “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”
We believe he has the correct interpretation. As our Mark Alexander explained at length 15 years ago, birthright citizenship for illegals is a gross misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment that defies the intent of its framers. We’ve consistently held that position in more recent years.
Trump argues that citizenship depends on the status of their parents, and the order highlights two specific cases for exclusion:
Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
Therefore, Trump is now directing the federal government to ensure that, beginning 30 days after the order, citizenship will not be automatically granted to children born in either scenario.
It is a rather straightforward and commonsense order.
The current prevailing interpretation of the 14th Amendment regarding birthright citizenship is wrong. It was never meant to reward illegal aliens for breaking American law. No child born to foreign citizens should be considered a citizen of the U.S. pic.twitter.com/Ty2vqT4kkD
— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) January 20, 2025
However, it goes against decades of federal government practice. Furthermore, due to the sheer number of illegal aliens currently living within the U.S., estimates are that as many as one in 13 babies born in the country are to those without legal status. That could mean 250,000 babies a year.
Of course, with Trump’s aggressive immigration and border enforcement campaign, the total number of illegal aliens residing in the U.S. will likely rapidly diminish, which will directly lower the total number of babies born to illegal aliens in the country in subsequent years.
That said, should Trump prevail and end the abuse of birthright citizenship, the total number of new Americans born every year will decrease. This will impact some of the federal government’s largest programs, like Social Security. Fewer new individuals added to the Social Security rolls will lead to fewer future taxpayers paying into the nearly insolvent program.
But what has been the cost to the American taxpayer of the millions of illegals who have entered the country? More than the monetary price has been the cost of innocent American lives. Women like Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and others have been murdered by illegal aliens. Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from overdoses of opioids, especially fentanyl, which are trafficked across the border by Mexican cartels.
It’s no secret that birthright citizenship conferred without question to children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens has long been a primary draw for migrants to enter the country illegally. The truth is the whole anchor baby phenomenon has been so exploited by illegal aliens that it is literally undermining our ability to maintain our national identity and borders.
Trump clearly sees this as a problem that must be addressed for the nation to finally tackle the problem of illegal immigration.
Predictably, Trump’s executive order was immediately challenged by Democrats and leftist groups who, in recent years, began investing in illegal immigration as a means for building political power. However, it’s good to see a Republican president finally pursue the issue, likely all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. That may be what needs to happen to end this abuse.
To illustrate just how far left Democrats have gone, just over 30 years ago, former Democrat Senator Harry Reid argued that “no sane country” would award citizenship to the children of illegal aliens. He was right.
American citizenship is not a right but a privilege. And for far too long, too many Americans have taken this special privilege for granted. Let’s hope this attitude changes.