Trump threatens not to grant citizenship to immigrant children born in the US
Trump said it was "ridiculous" that children of illegal immigrants were entitled to citizenship because they were born in the US and would change this law.
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| US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP |
"We're the only country in the world where people come in, have a baby here, and then those babies essentially become citizens of the United States for 85 years with all the benefits. It's ridiculous and it has to end," US President Donald Trump said today in an interview withAxios.
The US Constitution was amended 150 years ago to provide that all people born or naturalized in the US are US citizens. In principle, if Trump wanted to end the citizenship rights of children born in the US, the children of illegal immigrants or non-citizens, he would have to amend the Constitution.
The president did not provide any further details about the plan, but insisted that "the process is ongoing" and that he would not need to amend the Constitution. "I could certainly do it if Congress approved it, but right now my advisers tell me I can do it with an executive order," Trump revealed. The White House has not commented on the plan.
Trump made the statement a day after he announced the construction of "tent cities" for migrants from Honduras seeking asylum in the US, requiring them to wait there while their asylum applications are processed. The US president on October 22 called the migrant caravan a "national emergency" and announced the cutting of aid to Central American countries.
Trump's moves reflect an increasingly hardline approach to immigration. He signed an executive order banning citizens from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States and criticized his predecessor, Barack Obama, for helping some undocumented immigrants avoid deportation.
