Donald Trump wants to end birthright citizenship. He first floated the idea while he was president in 2018. He thought he could do it through an executive order. He didn’t proceed with his plan then. But in 2024, he made ending birthright citizenship one of his campaign promises. He has said that his first day in office, he will end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants.
The thing is, birthright citizenship is in the constitution. The 14th amendment says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Since 1868, when the amendment was adopted, birthright citizenship has become one of our most hallowed traditions.
Now, I’m for open borders. I believe that the immigrations process should consist of logging the person’s name and welcoming them in. If my preferred policies were enacted, this wouldn’t be an issue. However, my preferred policies probably won’t be enacted in my lifetime. So, it is an issue. Can Trump do what he promised?
I don’t believe he’ll be able to repeal the 14th amendment. He has a majority in both houses of congress, but not that big of a majority. He doesn’t need to repeal the amendment, though. All he needs to end birthright citizenship is a really atrocious reading of the amendment by the Supreme Court. And that’s a distinct possibility.
The court already overturned Roe v. Wade which was based on the 14th amendment. Three of the justices were appointed by Trump and at least two of the justices are bought and paid for by the conservatives. There’s just no telling what kind of wacky rulings they may make.
The only glimmer of hope that I have is that I cannot figure out a different way to read the citizenship clause. It is pretty clear that anyone born here is a citizen. I suppose, maybe, they could say that children of illegal immigrants are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, but that would mean they have no obligation to follow the laws of the US. Even Trump can’t want that.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m overreacting. I’m just scared. If Trump can end birthright citizenship, it will be a huge blow to our country. And, if the Supreme Court is willing to misread the Constitution to give Trump what he wants, he can do just about anything.
