As the upcoming midterm elections draw near, President Trump continues to focus on anti-immigrant policies and ideas, newly reporting an intention to sign an Executive Order ending birthright citizenship. To place this immigration issue in context, the concept of birthright protections and privileges derive from Section One of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Through his proposed order, Trump intends to deny children of non-citizens who were born on United States soil the right to live lawfully in the country of their birth, defying the constitution. Legal scholars and immigration advocates say that Trump’s attempt to change this law is fundamentally un-American and unconstitutional.
Trump did not specify when he would sign this proposed executive order. Some suggest it is yet another empty threat. Regardless of whether or not Trump succeeds in swiftly signing this Order or not, the discussion of terminating birthright citizenship is intended to escalate the rising tide of Republican hard-line anti-immigration beliefs that have become the cornerstone of his supporters.
Edward Shulman of the Shulman Law Group stated, “to undo the protections set forth in the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all people born in the United States, is not only unconstitutional but defies the goal of the Amendment, established to guard against politically motivated bars to legal entry. Attorney Shulman goes on to explain “birthright citizenship, adopted in 1868, is one of our most fundamental and long-enduring rights, which represents the core of our national existence and the fabric of a nation that welcomes foreigners. As an immigration lawyer, I find it unfathomable that such a fundamental tenet of American jurisprudence, written both in the 14th Amendment and through the Supreme Court decisions which subsequently upheld the Amendment, would be eradicated. Should the Executive Order be effectuated, it will hopefully be overturned in the Federal Courts.