Trump Admin. Considering Executive Action to End Birthright Citizenship

Pres. Trump said he is considering drafting an executive order that would lead to the end of birthright citizenship for children born to illegal aliens. The United States currently grants automatic citizenship to all children born in the country regardless of the parents’ immigration status – a practice that’s been abandoned in recent decades by every developed nation except for Canada and the United States.

Under both federal law and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, all children born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, receive automatic citizenship. A federal regulation, however, states that foreign diplomats living in the United States are not subject to the jurisdiction, and therefore any children born to them in the U.S. are not granted automatic citizenship.

“We applaud Pres. Trump for challenging the practice of bestowing automatic citizenship on foreign visitors and illegal aliens, an outdated concept that has been abandoned by most of the world’s nations, including all but two of those with advanced economies. It not only serves as an incentive for illegal immigration, but has even generated an entire “birth tourism” industry. NumbersUSA has advocated for two decades that this federal practice that adds hundreds of thousands of people to the United States each year be ended.”

– NumbersUSA President Roy Beck

Ending birthright citizenship is one of NumbersUSA’s five solutions to improve the nation’s immigration laws and serve the national interest. For the past several Congresses, NumbersUSA has endorsed legislation offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) that would define any child as not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and ineligible for automatic citizenship if neither parent is a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, or alien serving in the military.

For more on this story, see the Washington Post.