DONALD Trump, the United States President, has planned to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship for babies of non-immigrants and unauthorized immigrants born on the U.S. soil.
This disclosure was made in a video footage of an interview released Tuesday by the Axios, a U.S. media outlet.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United State for 85 years, with all of those benefits,” Trump said in the interview. “It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”
The U.S. leader said that he has already run the idea of ending birthright citizenship by his counsel and plans to introduce an executive order ending the longstanding right.
He asserted that it would not take a constitutional amendment to rescind birthright citizenship from some people born in the U.S., a stance that would undoubtedly draw a legal challenge should he proceed.
He said that he had always been told “that you needed a constitutional amendment” to end birthright citizenship. “Guess what?” he said. “You don’t.”
President Trump’s plan, if approved, would prevent pregnant women from Nigeria and other nations who travel to America solely to give birth in order to acquire the American citizenship for their newborn babies.
Trump did not provide a specific timeline he might seek to sign such an executive order, but he said that he had already discussed the idea with White House counsel, adding that efforts were “in the process.”
While Trump has made cracking down on immigration a central focus of his leadership, ending birthright citizenship would be one of his most dramatic efforts to actualise his hardline campaign promise.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution spells out birthplace as an arbiter of citizenship, stating that, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” This constitutional right could bar Trump from having progress with the decision.
The 14th Amendment was adopted on July 9, 1868, following the American Civil War with the aim of guaranteeing the equal citizenship rights of freed slaves.
In reaction to the U.S leader decision, some Nigerians have welcomed the idea. Expressing their opinions on Twitter, a user said it would reduce the rate pregnant women travel to the United States for the sake of acquiring the citizenship for their babies.
According to Era Unuigbe, Trump’s plan to stop born-in-America syndrome is a bad news for Nigerians.
“…We may all hate trump for this move but understand that it’s an opportunity for you to self-develop as a country,” he tweeted.