President-elect Donald Trump has taken executive action to attempt to deny birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants in the US. The move is likely to be challenged legally, as the US government has long interpreted the Constitution to mean that those born on American soil are citizens at birth, regardless of their parents' immigration status.
The issue of birthright citizenship revolves around the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Congress passed the amendment in 1866 during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, with the aim of extending citizenship to people born on US soil.
However, Trump has been a long-time critic of birthright citizenship, calling it "ridiculous" and arguing that it is a magnet for illegal immigration. He claims that birthright citizenship without conditions is not common in other countries and that it allows children of undocumented immigrants to enter the country as citizens.
But opponents of birthright citizenship say that it was never intended to cover undocumented immigrants' children or what is known as "birth tourism" - where migrants travel to a country, give birth on US soil, and then use their child's citizenship status to bring relatives into the country. They argue that the amendment was ratified to eliminate barriers to birthright citizenship based on race.
It remains to be seen how successful Trump will be in ending birthright citizenship through executive action or if he will attempt to initiate a constitutional amendment to achieve this goal. However, experts have confirmed that it is unlikely for the President to unilaterally change the Constitution and that any changes would need to go through Congress and be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.
The US is far from being the only country with birthright citizenship, as over 30 countries have some form of automatic citizenship on birth. Some examples include Canada, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.
The issue of birthright citizenship revolves around the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Congress passed the amendment in 1866 during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War, with the aim of extending citizenship to people born on US soil.
However, Trump has been a long-time critic of birthright citizenship, calling it "ridiculous" and arguing that it is a magnet for illegal immigration. He claims that birthright citizenship without conditions is not common in other countries and that it allows children of undocumented immigrants to enter the country as citizens.
But opponents of birthright citizenship say that it was never intended to cover undocumented immigrants' children or what is known as "birth tourism" - where migrants travel to a country, give birth on US soil, and then use their child's citizenship status to bring relatives into the country. They argue that the amendment was ratified to eliminate barriers to birthright citizenship based on race.
It remains to be seen how successful Trump will be in ending birthright citizenship through executive action or if he will attempt to initiate a constitutional amendment to achieve this goal. However, experts have confirmed that it is unlikely for the President to unilaterally change the Constitution and that any changes would need to go through Congress and be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.
The US is far from being the only country with birthright citizenship, as over 30 countries have some form of automatic citizenship on birth. Some examples include Canada, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay.
. I was sitting on a bench and watching the ducks swim in the pond. It made me think about how some people love ducks so much they get matching tattoos of them 
. Like, what's up with that? Is it just because they're so cute or is there something deeper to it? I also saw a guy playing the most beautiful guitar music while sitting on a blanket... I wish I could've heard more of his set 
it's kinda wild that some countries have automatic citizenship on birth and others don't. Like, what even is the reasoning behind that? It makes me think about how different our countries' histories are... like, did you know Argentina has a pretty cool "pase león" tradition where they grant permanent residency to people who help their parents with their family businesses? 
i mean trumps gotta be kidding right? like how can he just try to deny kids born in the US citizenship just cuz their parents didn't follow all the rules? its just not right. and what about all those ppl who came to us seeking a better life for themselves and their families? didnt they deserve some freedom? 
. It's like, hello, we've been doing this for years and it's worked just fine! I mean, who doesn't want their kid to be able to hold a US passport just because they were born here? It's not like it's gonna make America more secure or anything... Trump's just trying to stir up drama. Newsflash: if we don't have birthright citizenship, what's next? Denying passports to people who have parents with green cards? Come on! 
is gonna be a big mess 
It's like he's trying to make life harder for people already living here with no say in how they got here 
, not something to be taken away from people just because their parents might be undocumented 
. The 14th Amendment was meant to protect people born on US soil, regardless of who their parents are 
.
. And if he tries to change the Constitution without Congress' input 
, that's just gonna be a huge problem 
. We need politicians who actually care about people, not just making it hard for them to succeed 
.
. But for some reason Trump thinks it's a "magnet" for illegal immigration? 
. And let's not forget, changing the Constitution isn't exactly easy 
.
. But hey, we'll see how this all plays out 
! It's so unfair to the lil' ones who don't even get a say in their own fate 
! Trump just wants to make things more complicated and drama-filled 
!