Photo credit: PBS
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to eliminate birthright citizenship as soon as he is inaugurated to fulfil his campaign promises aiming to restrict immigration and redefine what it means to be American.
News18 reports that efforts to halt the policy would face steep legal battles.
Birthright citizenship ensures that anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen. The policy has been in place for many years. It applies to children born to individuals in the country illegally, as well as those on temporary visas like tourist or student visas who intend returning to their home country. While not practised in every country, birthright citizenship has been a point of debate. Critics, including former President Trump and his supporters, argue that the system is being misused and that stricter standards should be implemented to acquire American citizenship.
However, advocates emphasize that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, making it very difficult to overturn, and they believe that attempting to do so would be detrimental to the nation.
In a recent interview on NBC, Trump described the practice as “ridiculous” and pledged to terminate it.
However, some counter that abolishing it would have serious consequences. Alex Nowrasteh, Vice President of the Cato Institute, argues that birthright citizenship helps avoid the creation of n “illegal underclass” and promotes better assimilation and integration of immigrant families.
