Trump sparks birthright citizenship debate

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said he wants to sign an executive order ending the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the United States to noncitizens. The president revealed his plans in a Monday interview with Axios on HBO. “It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment,” Trump said. “Guess what? You don’t. You can definitely do it with an Act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

The president has consulted with White House legal counsel and said he was confident it would happen but did not set a timeline. Ending birthright citizenship likely would spark a legal challenge in the courts. There is debate over whether a president can override a constitutional amendment.

Congress passed the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1866 granting birthright citizenship. It reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the States wherein they reside.” The amendment nullified the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford that held those descended from freed slaves could not be citizens.

The amendment goes on to state, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”