Trump Birthright Executive Order Gaining Momentum
Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order has already been challenged in court, with a Reagan-appointed judge calling it “unconstitutional,” but I am not so sure about that.
In fact, some constitutional experts and members of Congress are chiming in, and they now think the order has a very good chance to stand.
PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP
The order, issued on January 20, 2025, would disallow citizenship for newborns who have at least one illegal immigrant parent. Trump has two major disqualifiers in his order. They are:
“When that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.” And…
“When that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”
This could hit the sweet spot to push back against the claims that Donald Trump’s order violates the 14th Amendment regarding birthright citizenship.
Senator Graham Pushes Back
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has supported birthright citizenship legislation in the past, and he fully supports Trump’s order, as well as believing it can stand up to the Court’s scrutiny.
He stated, "I think there's a good chance. I introduced legislation to end birthright citizenship years ago. Canada, Mexico, and the United States are, like, three of the 20 economic powers in the country. There are three of us that do this. Maybe Brazil.”
He later added, "I think when it comes to illegal immigration, if you want to turn off the spigot, change this policy. I think it's a cheap way to award citizenship. You should not be a citizen simply because you were born here. You have to have some connection to the jurisdiction of the United States.”
Graham also referenced a new study that claims that roughly 7% of babies born in 2023 were to illegal immigrants. The problem being that when these babies get automatic citizenship, illegals are all but guaranteed to be permitted to stay here as the caretaker for the children. This goes back to stopping chain migration, something conservatives have been trying to stop for years.
Constitutional Experts Back the Plan
I would consider Jonathan Turley among the leading constitutional experts in this country, as he always gives an honest opinion regardless of who winds up being right and wrong. In this case, he also seems to think that Trump hit the sweet spot.
In part, he stated, “I think that members of the Supreme Court may want to look at that. When the 14th Amendment was drafted, some of the individuals involved in that process, some of the members of Congress said that they believed it did not extend birthright citizenship and that has really fueled a lot of this debate.”
Hans von Spakovsky with the Heritage Foundation also agreed, stating, "I strongly believe that Donald Trump is correct, that we need to enforce the 14th Amendment as it was originally intended. No doubt there will be lawsuits against it, it'll get to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if the court follows the actual legislative intent and history, they will uphold what Donald Trump has done."
This all comes down to how the Supreme Court justices will look at the 14th Amendment. If they are originalists, then Trump has a shot. If they base the decision solely on past Supreme Court decisions, then Trump will fail. When I look at the current makeup of the court, I see two to three that will stick by their guns and back Trump on this, but I firmly believe that Justice Roberts will cross the aisle, and possibly bring Gorsuch and Barrett with him. To that point, I give Trump, at most, 20% for this order to hold up, but I will not rule it out simply because of the wild cards on the bench right now. Let's hope the order sticks and we can end birthright citizenship for illegals.
