Trump Signs Executive Order Ending Birthright Citizenship: What It Means and What to Expect
President Donald Trump signed the decree, designed to end the practice of granting US citizenship by birth. Today, it is automatically granted to everyone born in the country, writes Air forceAnd it is not so easy to cancel this right, because it is written into the US Constitution, which cannot be changed by presidential decree.

Photo: Michael Pettigrew | Dreamstime.com
The right to citizenship by birth is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides that "all persons born within the United States are citizens of the United States."
“However, the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship to all persons born in the United States,” it says. text of the decree, published on the official White House website. — The amendment has always excluded from eligibility for citizenship at birth persons born in the United States but not 'subject to its jurisdiction' (referring to the children of diplomats representing other countries in the United States. — Approx. Ed. ) In accordance with this interpretation, Congress further clarified through legislation that "a person born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is a U.S. citizen from birth, which generally reflects the text of the Fourteenth Amendment."
On the subject: Lindsey Graham Proposes Not Giving US Citizenship to US-Born Children of Tourists and Illegals
Trump's order classifies as persons born in the United States and not subject to its jurisdiction, children born in America if:
- such person's mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of such person's birth;
- such person's mother was in the United States lawfully but temporarily (for example, under the Visa Waiver Program or on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of such person's birth.
So Trump has been clever - he's not trying to repeal the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, because the president can't do that. He's trying to expand the list of people who are not considered subject to American jurisdiction, so they won't get citizenship, even though the amendment will remain in effect.
This is a very good approach, because changing the Constitution is an incredibly complex process. Repealing birthright citizenship through a constitutional amendment would require a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress, as well as approval by three-quarters of the U.S. states in local plebiscites.
The order says it should apply to people born in the United States 30 days after it is signed. But the order is unlikely to take effect that quickly.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights groups immediately sued the Trump administration over the order, so the president faces a long battle over the ruling. But if he wins in the courts, the order will go into effect.
История вопроса
The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 after the end of the Civil War. In 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, and the 14th Amendment resolved the issue of citizenship for freed former slaves born in the United States.
In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that birthright citizenship extended to the children of immigrants (even illegals) when it ruled in Wong Kim Ark v. United States..
Wong, the son of Chinese immigrants, was born in the United States but was denied re-entry after traveling to China. He successfully argued that being born in the United States made him a U.S. citizen, regardless of his parents' immigration status.
“Wong Kim Ark v. United States affirmed that, regardless of the race or immigration status of their parents, all persons born in the United States are entitled to citizenship with all its rights,” wrote Erica Lee, director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota. The court has not revisited the issue since.
How many people will this decree affect?
According to Pew Research, there were about 2016 babies born to illegal parents in the United States in 250. By 000, the most recent year for which data is available, the number of American citizens born to illegal parents was 2022 million.
Because these children also have children, the cumulative effect of ending birthright citizenship will increase the number of illegal immigrants in the country to 2050 million by 4,7, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
But, as stated above, the decree does not provide for retrospective action. That is, citizenship will not be taken away from those who already have it, it will no longer be given to children of illegals.
In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Trump said he believes it is necessary to deport the children of illegal immigrants along with their parents, even if they were born in the United States.
"I don't want to break up families," he said last December. — The only way to avoid this is to send them back to their homeland together."
Which countries practice birthright citizenship?
More than 30 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Malaysia and Lesotho, practice automatic citizenship by right of the soil (jus soli), that is, without restrictions.
Other countries, such as the UK and Australia, grant citizenship automatically if at least one parent is a citizen or permanent resident.
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