Former President Donald Trump unveiled a new policy pledge Tuesday morning, saying he would immediately end the birthright for illegal immigrants by signing an executive order if he wins the 2024 presidential election.
“As part of my plan to secure the border, on the first day of my new term, I will sign an executive order to make it clear to federal agencies that under the proper interpretation of the law in the future, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive shelter. automatic US citizenship,” he said in his latest policy video.
The idea was floated repeatedly during Trump’s tenure.
But legal experts said it would likely violate the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which states that citizenship is granted to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”
Now the frontrunner for the Republican nomination is returning to the idea, attacking the Biden administration for being weak at protecting US borders.
Donald Trump unveiled a new policy pledge Tuesday morning, saying he would immediately end birthrights for illegal aliens with an executive order
Trump said the prospect of citizenship for the children of illegal aliens and other benefits acted like a ‘magnet’
“Even though these millions of illegal border crossers have entered the country illegally, all of their future children will automatically become US citizens,” he said.
‘Could you imagine?
“They will be eligible for welfare benefits, taxpayer-funded health care, voting rights, chain migration, and countless other government benefits, many of which will also benefit the illegal alien parents.
“This policy is a reward for violating the laws of the United States and clearly acts as a magnet to help draw the flow of illegal immigrants across our borders.”
He said the “illegal foreign invasion” was caused by President Joe Biden.
And he promised his executive order would ban “birth tourism,” in which a pregnant mother in the US gives birth after entering legally on a visa before leaving.
His plan requires at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
Border security is emerging as a major campaign theme for the 2024 election. Migrants are pictured here resting at the Nueva Vision Agape Shelter, in Tijuana, Mexico
Migrants being accommodated in New York board a bus outside their hotel earlier this month
“My policies will stifle a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming and encourage many of the foreign nationals Joe Biden has unlawfully allowed into our country to return to their home countries,” he said.
‘They have to go back. No one could afford this. No one could do this – and even morally it’s so wrong.”
The US is not alone in offering citizenship. But several countries, including Ireland, Australia, India and the United Kingdom, have ended or limited the right in recent decades.
Legal pundits almost universally say that the US Constitution and a series of court rulings mean that Trump cannot end justice with a stroke of the pen.
However, a small number of conservative scholars say that the full text of the 14th Amendment – “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 in which they reside – gives another interpretation.
Trump is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination. He heads to Iowa on Wednesday for two days of events in the crucial early state primary
Only 31 percent of voters say they approve of the president’s approach to immigration
Illegal aliens cannot vote or serve on juries and thus are not ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the US
Trump seemed to allude to this view of the Constitution in his video message.
‘As pointed out by many scholars, this policy is based on a historical myth and a deliberate misinterpretation of the law by the advocates of open borders,” he said.
Trump heads to Iowa on Tuesday for a series of events, culminating Thursday night with a Fox News town hall hosted by Sean Hannity.
“These events will be different from what people are used to,” said campaign spokesman Stephen Cheung.
These are not big gatherings. These are smaller events where he shakes hands and does retail politics.’