Can Trump take away birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants if elected? Former president targets children

In a newly released campaign video, Donald Trump stated that if he became president again, he would ban birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.

If elected president in 2024, the former president said he would issue an executive order on his first day in the White House in January 2025, directing the federal government to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents.

Declaring the order would ensure that children of undocumented immigrants “do not automatically receive US citizenship.” Trump argued that the policy would “chock off a significant incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more immigrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has let into our country to go back to their home countries.”

Donald Trump alleges a misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment

Under an interpretation of the Constitution, which has been recognized for decades, children born in the United States are automatically granted US citizenship, even if their parents are not citizens or legal permanent residents.

The Citizenship Clause Doctrine of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States and the State in which they reside.” However, Trump argues that the current reading of the 14th Amendment from which birthright citizenship is derived is “a historical myth and a deliberate misinterpretation of the law.”

Should Donald Trump secure victory in the 2024 presidential election and fulfill his vow to terminate birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants through an executive order, he will undoubtedly encounter substantial legal obstacles, and the likelihood of the legislation being invalidated as unconstitutional is high.