Some Republican presidential candidates have voiced opposition to birthright citizenship. This is the idea that a child who is born in the U.S. automatically becomes an American citizen.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who is polling behind former president Donald Trump in the second-place position, said that “birth tourism” was not the original understanding of the 14th Amendment and that he will move to force clarification on the matter.
DeSantis’s website says: “We will end the notion that children born to illegal aliens have the right to citizenship by birth if they were born in the United States.” The promise of citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants will encourage illegal immigration. This is incompatible with the original meaning of the 14th Amendment. We will make the courts and Congress address this failed policy.”
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified by the United States in 1868, states that all persons born in the United States or naturalized there, and who are subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens both of the United States as well as the state where they reside.
Trump has promised to issue an executive directive informing federal agencies of “the correct interpretation” of the law that future children of illegal aliens will not automatically receive American citizenship.
Former U.S. The Daily Caller reported that Nikki Haley, ambassador to the United Nations, “opposes the birthright citizenship of those who enter this country illegally.” Haley’s spokeswoman Ken Farnaso also noted the same thing.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson rejected the idea that an executive directive could eliminate birthright citizenship. “Empty executive orders to end birthright citizenship are disrespectful of our Constitution. It is impossible to ignore the 14th Amendment with a stroke of the presidential pen, no matter how much you hope. Hutchinson told the Daily Caller that we must not tolerate illegal immigrants entering our country. The solution is to secure our border, and I will do this, instead of making unconstitutional statements.
The outlet reported that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said, “Our Founding Fathers decided that people born here were immediately citizens. Cracking open the Constitution to eliminate that right seems really idiotic. My parents both came here to escape communism. They came legally but I became a citizen because I was born here. We need to close our borders to illegal immigration not open up the constitution. One out of every five Americans is Hispanic. We can get their votes but this isn’t a way to do it.”
