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President Donald Trump Can’t End Birthright Citizenship, and Here’s Why
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President Donald Trump Can’t End Birthright Citizenship, and Here’s Why

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21st of January, 2025. Guyana, South America. GSA News. Guyana News. Article contributed by Patrick Carpen.

Last updated: January 21, 2025 at 22:09 pm

Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to end birthright citizenship in the United States, a practice enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and has even signed an executive order to this effect on January 20th, 2025. However, any attempt to do so faces significant legal, constitutional, and practical obstacles, making such a proposal highly unlikely to succeed.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, states: “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.” This clause has long been interpreted to grant citizenship to nearly all individuals born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Supreme Court rulings, including the landmark 1898 case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, have reaffirmed this principle. Any effort to overturn or reinterpret such a deeply rooted constitutional guarantee would require either a constitutional amendment or a radical shift in judicial interpretation, both of which are highly improbable.

Amending the Constitution is an arduous process. It requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states. Given the polarized nature of American politics, achieving such broad consensus is virtually impossible. Even within the Republican Party, there is no unanimous agreement on the issue, further complicating any legislative path forward.

Another significant hurdle is judicial oversight. Any executive order or congressional legislation attempting to unilaterally end birthright citizenship would face immediate legal challenges. Federal courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court, would almost certainly strike down such actions as unconstitutional. Legal scholars across the ideological spectrum agree that the 14th Amendment’s language leaves little room for reinterpretation. The clause “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has been consistently understood to exclude only specific groups, such as children of foreign diplomats, rather than entire categories of immigrants or noncitizens.

In addition to legal and constitutional barriers, there are practical implications to consider. Eliminating birthright citizenship would create a large population of stateless individuals, particularly children born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. This would introduce significant administrative and humanitarian challenges, from determining legal status to preventing widespread discrimination. It could also lead to diplomatic tensions with other nations, as individuals born in the U.S. might lack citizenship anywhere.

While the issue of birthright citizenship remains a contentious topic, the constitutional protections it provides are deeply embedded in American law and society. Any effort to dismantle this foundational principle would not only face insurmountable legal and procedural hurdles but also undermine the values of equality and inclusivity that the United States strives to uphold. Consequently, Donald Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship is more a political talking point than a feasible policy objective.

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