8/22/2019

CITIZENSHIP/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The day after his administration unveiled a regulation that would allow it to indefinitely detain migrant families with children, President Trump also revived talk of a much more radical step: abolishing automatic American citizenship for anyone born in the United States. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday [8-21-19] that the rule, enshrined in the Constitution for more than 150 years and rooted in common law before that, was ‘frankly ridiculous,’ and said the White House was ‘looking very, very seriously” at ending a policy that in the past he has called “a magnet for illegal immigration.’ Here is what you need to know about birthright citizenship and whether the president could put an end to it. Does the Constitution guarantee birthright citizenship? Yes. The 14th Amendment says, ‘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’…Can the president abolish it? No. The president cannot amend the Constitution, and an executive order trying to end or restrict the right to citizenship of persons born in the United States would almost certainly be challenged in court as a violation of the 14th Amendment.”

Patrick J. Lyons, “Trump Wants to Abolish Birthright Citizenship. Can He Do That?,” The New York Times online, August 22, 2019