October 30, 2018

Trump Mulls Ending Birthright Citizenship Via EO

The president wants to shut down one of the biggest magnets for illegal immigration.

“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 State for 85 years with all of those benefits,” President Donald Trump declared in an interview with Axios. “It’s ridiculous,” he added, “and it has to end.” Trump then announced his plan to issue an executive order to cease allowing “anchor babies,” the current practice of recognizing automatic birthright citizenship of children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens. With recent reports finding that illegal-alien births are now costing U.S. taxpayers a whopping $2.4 billion annually, and with three caravans of illegals headed to the American border, is it any wonder that Trump is seriously seeking to address this growing problem?

Anticipating objections to the legality of the executive order, Trump pushed back, saying he was “always told … that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t.”

Axios was quick to challenge Trump’s assertion that the U.S. is the only country allowing birthright citizenship by noting that at least 30 countries still do so, but Axios glaringly omits an important qualifier (admittedly a qualifier that Trump himself should have noted): No other developed nation continues to accept birthright citizenship. Canada ended the practice in 2009, leaving the U.S. as the last holdout.

Whenever any objections to birthright citizenship are raised, proponents quickly point to the 14th Amendment, arguing that it is a constitutionally protected right. But as Mark Alexander has previously explained, “In the very words of the 14th Amendment’s authors … ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ clearly and plainly referred to those who were legal citizens. It did not and never has implied any legal standing for the children of illegal immigrants. … The 14th Amendment makes no birthright allowance. Our Constitution’s Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 gives Congress the power to determine qualifications for citizenship, and Section 5 of the 14th Amendment does likewise. Start by amending Section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are not eligible for citizenship by virtue of birth.”

Nevertheless, the ACLU stated, “This is a blatantly unconstitutional attempt to fan the flames of anti-immigrant hatred in the days ahead of the midterms. The 14th Amendment’s citizenship guarantee is clear. You can’t erase the Constitution with an executive order, [President Trump.]”

Sen. Lindsey Graham knows better: “Finally, a president willing to take on this absurd policy of birthright citizenship. I’ve always supported comprehensive immigration reform — and at the same time — the elimination of birthright citizenship.”

So does Trump have the executive authority to make this change? Axios is correct in noting that there will certainly be legal challenges should Trump issue the EO. But that may be exactly Trump’s intention — to force the courts to weigh in and provide greater legal clarity on an issue that has long troubled many Americans. Trump’s case is a strong one.

(Updated.)

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.