Elimination would face serious legal hurdles because the right to birthright citizenship is firmly established under US law and is based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Donald Trump, the president-elect, sees birthright citizenship as "ridiculous" and plans to abolish it once he takes office on January 20. For over 150 years, the Constitution has protected this protection. Regardless of the citizenship of their parents, children born within the United States are granted U.S. citizenship. But that will soon change.
In an interview, Mr. Trump stated, "We're going to have to get it changed." "We may need to return to the people. But we must put an end to it. He had brought up this matter during his first term as well, but nothing significant occurred. According to Russell A. Stamets, a partner at Circle of Counsels, "it's not the practice of every country, and Trump and his supporters have argued that the system is being abused and that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen," Business Standard reported.
Elimination would face serious legal hurdles because the right to birthright citizenship is firmly established under US law and is based on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. According to the 14th Amendment, "Everyone born or naturalized in the United States and under its jurisdiction is a citizen of the United States and the State in which they currently reside."
"Birth tourism" is a practice where pregnant women go to the United States intentionally to give birth so that their children can obtain US citizenship before returning to their native countries, according to Trump and other opponents of the policy. According to the Associated Press, Eric Ruark, head of research for NumbersUSA, an organization that advocates for lowering immigration, stated that "having a child and simply crossing the border should not entitle anyone to citizenship."
Additionally, Trump stated that "I don't want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back." This implies that, in order to keep families together, lawful citizens would also be expelled.
According to the American Immigration Council's 2011 factsheet, denying birthright citizenship would have an impact on everyone and make it more challenging for American parents to prove their children's citizenship. "Our citizenship is attested by our birth certificates. According to the factsheet, US residents would no longer be able to cite their birth certificates as evidence of citizenship if birthright citizenship were abolished. Approximately 4.8 million Indian-Americans reside in the United States, with 34%, or 1.6 million, of them having been born here, according to Pew Research's study of the 2022 US Census. According to current law, these people are citizens of the United States. Trump would affect 1.6 million Indians if he repealed this law.
The president, however, is not allowed to change the Constitution, and any attempt by the executive branch to limit the right would be against the 14th Amendment. "I don't think his claims are particularly true. Alex Nowrasteh, vice president of the pro-immigration Cato Institute, told the Associated Press, "He has been saying things like this for almost ten years." "He didn't do anything to further this agenda when he was president before."
