It’s a constitutional amendment from 1868. No matter that he didn’t say how he would do that (while most people acknowledge that it would take a constitutional amendment to change the policy, some claim it was never included in the 14th Amendment in the first place).
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Ratified in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment is abundantly clear: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States“.
If we didn’t have the 14th Amendment, it could definitely narrow the GOP field. In the UK, Australia, and South Africa, for instance, birthright citizenship is no longer automatic.
Kasie Hunt: Do you think that birthright citizenship should be ended?
In the modern era of porous borders, worldwide tourism and jetliner travel, ending so-called birthright citizenship carries a certain visceral appeal. In the U.S., conservatives have historically opposed it on the grounds that it encourages law-breaking. Immigration has already emerged as a theme for the 2016 general election, especially among GOP contenders.
Concerning the latest national debate based on an offhand comment by Donald Trump – this time about birthright citizenship – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday said he isn’t for or against the idea. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has backed a law that would impose a mandatory minimum prison sentence for any illegal re-entry offense.
“I’m not taking a position on it one way or the other“. It’s a presidential campaign.
“As a result of this decision, the only alternative left for the American people is to support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to reaffirm the ability of the states to continue to define marriage”, Walker said after the court verdict. A strict immigration platform alone isn’t enough to make voters change their allegiance.
They aren’t the only ones who want it gone.
Yet even many on the Right are loath to denounce birthright citizenship. His Republican rivals started jumping to join him. Through multiple waves of immigration since then, it has faced no serious challenge. So did Lindsey Graham. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. “In short, if the undocumented parent of a U.S.-born child is caught in the United States, he or she legally faces the very same risk of deportation as any other immigrant”, the Washington Post reported. The expected republican takeover of congress next year could move the issue to the top of the congressional calendar. In 2014, 36 percent did.
Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, and Rick Santorum have either criticized birthright citizenship or called for an end to the policy, but they have not explicitly called for changing the Constitution in the aftermath of Trump’s vehement opposition.
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Republican presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, presents his plan to replacing President Barack Obama’s health care law, Tuesday, August 18, 2015, at Cass Screw Machine Products in Brooklyn Center, Minn. Both dropped out of the race early. But he’s not the only Republican eyeing the White House to have called for a constitutional change to overturn the policy.
