On Wednesday, President Trump told reporters that his administration is seriously looking into ending citizenship for children who are born in the U.S. to parents who came to America illegally.
What We Know:
- According to Reuters, the President said “We’re looking at that very seriously, birthright citizenship, where you have a baby on our land, you walk over the border, have a baby – congratulations, the baby is now a U.S. citizen. … It’s frankly ridiculous.”
- President Trump delayed the idea of the grant after being elected President in 2016. He brought the topic up again last year, saying he would sign an executive order to request the change.
- Many lawmakers, including some Republicans, argued that Trump didn’t have the right to make a change using the executive order. They also mentioned that birthright citizenship was established from the 14th Amendment.
- President Trump, throughout his presidency, has tried numerous times to crack down on illegal and legal migration. His administration had created and later reversed the “Zero Tolerance” policy, which, according to The Hill, led to thousands of families being separated.
- Trump has also tried to change asylum laws to keep refugees in Mexico while they were waiting to be processed. Last week, the White House created a new law which makes it difficult for immigrants to get green cards.
Trump’s administration also announced Wednesday that a new rule would hold those who are migrating indefinitely, ending Flores Settlement Agreement which is a procedure that requires children to be held no longer than 20 days.
