American Immigration Council on President Trump’s Plan to End Birthright Citizenship

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  President Donald Trump said yesterday in an interview that he plans to sign an executive order to eliminate birthright citizenship, a principle enshrined in the U.S. Constitution that grants citizenship to any person born within the territory of the United States.  

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution affirms that, with very few exceptions, all persons born in the United States are U.S. citizens, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. The Supreme Court has upheld the principle of birthright citizenship for more than a century. 

The American Immigration Council has a range of resources that address common questions on immigration, including the legislative history of citizenship, myths and facts about birthright citizenship, the problems with eliminating birthright citizenship, and the debate surrounding birthright citizenship and unauthorized immigration. 

The following statement is from Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council:  

“Birthright citizenship defines who we are as a nation and is a core part of our American heritage and history. Eliminating birthright citizenship would do nothing to solve our immigration issues.   

“No president can change the Constitution with the stroke of a pen. The only way to eliminate birthright citizenship would be through a new Constitutional amendment. Such an amendment would further divide this nation, create stateless individuals who are citizens of no country, and impose a significant burden on all Americans who would no longer have an easy and inexpensive way to prove their citizenship. At a time of increasing partisan disagreement and heinous acts carried out in the name of preventing immigration, we call on the president to focus on uniting the nation rather than dividing it.” 

###  

For more information, contact:  

Maria Frausto at the American Immigration Council, [email protected] or 202-507-7526.