The United States Constitution outlines a law that specifies the rights of a child born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents from another country. The legislation was initially introduced to the public as the 14th Amendment during the late 1860s to provide African American slaves and their descendants with permanent residency. In the following decades, "Birthright Citizenship" was also extended to include Native American Indians and children of migrants (regardless of their parent's race or legal status). When Donald Trump was elected U.S. President in 2016, not only did he openly question the legal citizen status of his predecessor, Barack Obama, but he immediately challenged the principles of "Birthright Citizenship." A notion that was met with staunch pushback from civil rights groups such as the "Asian and Latino Coalition."
On the surface, repealing 'Birthright Citizenship' would single out migrants closest to the Southern border from Mexico and Central America (El Salvador, Panama, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua), who reportedly make up approximately one-third of the undocumented population. Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced that he would issue an executive order to ban 'Birthright Citizenship' once and for all. The 76-year-old stated that he would make the controversial declaration on his first day back in office if re-elected U.S. President next November.
"My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries," Trump said in a recorded video message. "They must go back."
In 2016, Trump made a similar vow when he promised his supporters that he would build a "great wall" along the country's southern border.
Source: Rolling Stone
