Trump Tries to End Birthright Citizenship with Executive Order in Move That’s Likely to Be Challenged

After being sworn in as president on Monday, Jan. 20, Donald Trump filed an executive order to terminate birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants

Donald Trump is fighting to put an end to birthright citizenship.

On Monday, Jan. 20, the newly appointed president, 78, issued an executive order intending to terminate birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants just hours after being sworn in.

According to the White House, "the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States" under certain circumstances, including parents determined to be "unlawfully present," "not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident" or in the country under legal but temporary status (i.e., working, student and tourist visas).

Expected to go in effect in 30 days, the policy would not be retroactive.

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Despite Trump's executive order, the move is expected to face significant legal challenges, particularly due to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The amendment grants automatic citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents' immigration status.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker condemned the order, saying in a statement issued by his office, “President Trump’s executive order to strip birthright citizenship from people born in this country is unconstitutional."

He added, “Here in Illinois, we follow the law. This is only the beginning of the new administration’s attempt to undermine the rule of law, and the people of Illinois can count on me to stand against unconstitutional actions."

On Monday evening, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the policy. "Birthright citizenship embodies America’s most fundamental promise: that all children born on our soil begin life as full and equal members of our national community, regardless of their parents’ origins, status, or circumstances. This principle has enabled generations of children to pursue their dreams and build a stronger America," the organization wrote in its complaint.

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“Denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values,” Anthony Romero, ACLU executive director, said in a statement, per USA Today. “This order seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history, by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans.”

This is not the first time Trump has sought to eliminate birthright citizenship. In 2018, while serving as the 45th president of the United States, the now 47th president revealed his plan. “It’s in the process. It’ll happen with an executive order,” Trump said of his hopes to end birthright citizenship during an interview with Axios on HBO. 

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump continued, adding that White House lawyers were working on it. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress but now they’re saying I can do it with just an executive order.”

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Trump also falsely stated to Axios that the U.S. is 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 States for 85 years with all of those benefits.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” he added.

Despite his claims in 2018, Trump could not actualize the executive order during his first tenure as commander-in-chief. “You obviously cannot do that,” Paul Ryan, who was House Speaker at the time, told WVLK, a radio station in Lexington, Ky. “I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case, the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process.”

Along with his second effort to end birthright citizenship, Trump also issued orders for numerous other immigration-related acts on Monday after his inauguration, including barring asylum for people arriving at the southern border, suspension of the Refugee Admissions Program and declaring a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexico border among other orders.