Trump says he wants to use the order to end the citizenship

President Donald Trump plays another decisive role in immigration in the last days before the midterm elections, stating that he wants to order the removal of the constitutional right to citizenship for state-born babies. States of non-citizens. Most scholars think that he can not unilaterally implement such a change.

At seven days of high stakes elections that he tried to focus on alarmist remarks about immigration, Trump commented "Axios on HBO". on a caravan of migrants from Central America heading towards the US-Mexico border.

His administration on Monday announced the dispatch of thousands of soldiers on active duty to the border, and Trump said he would have set up tent camps to house asylum seekers.

Trump has long called for the end of citizenship, as many conservatives. A decree would create a difficult legal battle for Trump to determine whether the president had the unilateral ability to declare that children born in the United States to those who live illegally here are not citizens. Most scholars think he can not.

Asked about the legality of such an executive order, Trump replied, "They say that I can only do it with an executive order." He added that "we are the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States." A study conducted in 2010 by the Center for Immigration Studies, a group favorable to restrictions to immigration, showed that 30 countries offered birthright citizenship.

The Pew Research Center found in a survey published two years ago that the number of "unauthorized immigrants" was declining and accounted for about one-third of the births of foreign-born mothers in the United States in 2014. About 275 000 babies were born to such parents in 2014., or about 7% of the 4 million births in the United States that year, according to Pew's estimates based on government data. This was down from 330,000 in 2009, at the end of the recession.

An excerpt from Trump's interview was published Tuesday on the Axios website.

The president said the White House lawyers were reviewing his proposal. It is unclear how fast he would act and the White House did not provide more details.

A person familiar with the internal debate at the White House said that citizenship had been raised inside the West Wing on several occasions at least during the past year, but what about her? had internal detractors. White House lawyers have debated the issue and expect to work with the Office of the Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice to develop a legal rationale for this action. This is one of the many changes in immigration under discussion, including changes to the asylum legislation and the ban on entry. of the caravan of migrants in the country.

Officials said that there would probably be no decision after the elections, partly because of the president's visit to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to meet the victims of the deadly shootings in the city. synagogue.

The legal experts asked if Trump had the power to do so by decree.

Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, said on Tuesday that the Constitution was very clear.

"If you were born in the United States, you are a citizen," he said, adding that it was "outrageous that the president might think that he could override the constitutional guarantees by issuing a decree,

Jadwat said the president had an obligation to respect the Constitution. Trump may try to get Congress to pbad an amendment to the constitution, "but I do not think they're about to get it."

"Obviously, even if he did, it could be the subject of a court challenge," he added.

Suzanna Sherry, a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School, specializing in constitutional issues, said those who advise Trump to be able to amend the Constitution through an executive order are simply wrong. "He can not do it alone and, in fact, he can not do it even if Congress pbades a statue."

"I think there should be a constitutional amendment," she said. "I do not see a plausible legal basis," she said.

But others suggest that the president may have an opening.

Jon Feere, a senior advisor to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is among those who have long argued that the president could limit the citizenship clause through executive action.

"A president could order his agencies to align with his interpretation of the decisions of the Supreme Court, which are probably limited to children of immigrants with a permanent residence (the court has never ruled on children born of tourists or illegal aliens). He could order his agencies to issue social security numbers and pbadports only for newborns with at least one parent who is a citizen or a resident immigrant, "he wrote in an editorial in 2015. on the hill.

In the final days before the mid-session on November 6, Trump focused on immigration to combat Democratic enthusiasm. Trump believes that his campaign promises, including his much-vaunted and yet unrestricted promise to quickly build a border wall between the United States and Mexico, continue to create shouts for his base and that the latter goal will further narrow the gap. of enthusiasm.

Trump has expressed his theory that birthright citizenship could be suppressed during his campaign, when he described it as a "pole of attraction for illegal immigration" . At one stage of the 2015 Florida campaign, he said: it's over, it's not going to happen.

The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to their jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and the state in which they reside."

The amendment was pbaded by Congress in 1866 during the period of reconstruction after the Civil War. It was ratified in 1868 by three quarters of the states. By extending citizenship to those born in the United States, the amendment overturned a 1857 Supreme Court decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford) that those who were descendants of slaves could not be citizens.

In addition to the debate over Trump's power to declare that children born in the United States are not citizens, a separate question is whether Congress could pbad a law to that effect or whether only a constitutional amendment could reach the law. Trump's apparent goal of denying citizenship to children born in the United States to those who are here illegally.

Republicans in Congress continue to introduce bills to end citizenship, including the bill introduced at this session by GOP Conservative Representative Steve King of Iowa, who he is aligned with nationalist political leaders abroad. King's bill has about 50 co-authors in the House. King's bill, however, is expected to be well received in the Senate, where no related legislation is pending, and a handful of senators have supported past efforts.

King said that he had not discussed the issue with the President in recent months, but that it had been raised "several times" in group discussions. He said he did not personally consider citizenship as part of the birthright as part of the caravan issue and congratulated the chair for linking these issues.

"Sending this message, it is an additional element to say to the caravan: do not come here. Some are pregnant, no doubt, "he said.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, now a close ally of the president, also tweeted his support for change.

"This policy is a pole of attraction for illegal immigration, out of the ordinary developed countries, and must stop," he said.