‘We have to end it’: Can Trump cancel 14th Amendment birthright citizenship rights?

One of the first things president-elect Donald Trump has promised to do when he gets into office is tackle immigration, with one of his many plans being to end birthright citizenship.

Speaking with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday, Trump discussed the possibility of changing the 14th amendment, saying “We’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people, But we have to end it.” When asked by Welker whether he would take executive action to carry out his goal, Trump confirmed that was the plan, “if we can, through executive action, I was going to do it through executive action, but then we had to fix COVID first.” Yeah, he’s trying to take credit for fixing COVID-19 as if he didn’t cause countless deaths with his idiotic comments downplaying its seriousness during that time.

Showing us all that not much has changed, Trump also slipped in another bizarre comment by claiming that the U.S. is the only country in the world that has birthright citizenship. This is just plain wrong, and a simple Google search reveals that 33 countries have unrestricted birthright citizenship, while another 32 have it with restrictions. 

What is the 14th amendment?

The U.S. is just one of many countries that allows citizenship for children born within its borders. This right has been protected under the 14th amendment since 1868, after the Civil War ended. To put it simply, it ensured that anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. would be granted citizenship. 

It’s never cut and dry when it comes to citizenship, though. Some argue that the 14th amendment only applies to the children of legal immigrants, others claim it applies to any child born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ status. 

Can Trump end birthright citizenship?

Although the idea of executive action was tossed about on Sunday, it seems Donald doesn’t have a fully realized plan for how he intends to do this yet. Trump outlined plans last year, in which he claimed he would issue an executive order on his first day of presidency that would require at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident in order for the child to obtain citizenship.

This wouldn’t exactly go well for him. The constitution can’t be changed by an executive order, so this would just lead to Trump wasting his own time. He mentioned doing this during his first term, and the answer was the same then as it is now — it wouldn’t work.

Of course, Trump could try to pass the law through congress, and he’d likely have a ton of support, but he’d also face a lot more pushback. Violating the constitution is not easy, and we should be thankful for that, I suppose. While it’s possible that Donald could be successful with his plan to end birthright citizenship, it’s unlikely to play out like he claims it will. He won’t get it done within his first days in office, it will almost surely be a long, drawn out legal battle which he hopefully won’t win.