President Donald Trump revealed his intentions to sign an executive order removing birthright citizenship from the 14th Amendment.
Trump announced the possible legislative measure in an interview with HBO news miniseries Axios on Tuesday. According to The Washington Post, if the order were signed, Trump would be the first president to challenge the longstanding concept established during the Reconstruction era.
The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment states, "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."
“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 for 85 years with all of those benefits,” Trump said during the Axios interview. “It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”
Exclusive: Trump plans to sign an executive order terminating birthright citizenship. https://t.co/nLbrDDV8IL
pic.twitter.com/LYwvpn9D3o— Mike Allen (@mikeallen) October 30, 2018
Critics have taken Axios to task for the exclusive interview, which is due to air on HBO this weekend. Many claimed reporter Jonathan Swan failed to challenge the president's notion, such as media mogul Ahmed Baba.
"If this is the tone of the show, presenting attacks on constitutional rights with the vibe of 'I’m so happy I’m about to get this scoop,' I won’t be watching the show," Baba wrote on Twitter.
Not only is this unconstitutional, @jonathanvswan seemed way too happy in this.
If this is the tone of the show, presenting attacks on constitutional rights with the vibe of “I’m so happy I’m about to get this scoop,” I won’t be watching the show @axios.#BirthrightCitizenship
https://t.co/Eyp5pojfJJ— Ahmed Baba (@AhmedBaba_) October 30, 2018
According to Swan, the president would not require Congress to overturn birthright citizenship.
“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump told Axios. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order. It’s in the process. It’ll happen . . . with an executive order.”
Trump did not offer a timeframe for the groundbreaking order. Since the start of his presidential campaign, Trump has declared a war on immigrants. He has also echoed Republicans decrying the influx of undocumented Hispanic immigrants and "anchor babies."
“This policy is a magnet for illegal immigration, out of the mainstream of the developed world and needs to come to an end,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) said following the clip's release.
CBS News notes the 14th Amendment, passed during Reconstruction, states "all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens." The Supreme Court upheld the amendment in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898).
If birthright citizenship were to cease to exist, the U.S. would join Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and other Central and South American countries with similar policies in place.
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