President Donald Trump has said birthright citizenship “will be ended one way or the other.” In a tweet on Wednesday, he claimed that the policy was not covered by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.
In an earlier interview he had announced his plans to stop the right to citizenship for babies born on US soil to non US citizens. This tweet follows the outrage that arose from that remark.
His tweet read:
“So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree…..”
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An hour after the above tweet he followed up with another one saying, “Don’t forget the nasty term Anchor Babies. I will keep our Country safe. This case will be settled by the United States Supreme Court!”
Despite what the president said in the interview, the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 shortly after the US Civil War granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” including former slaves who had just been freed.
If Donald Trump succeeds in abolishing this practice, Canada will be the only ‘first world’ country that still offers citizenship by birth.
Nigerians will definitely be affected the decision as many aspire to give birth in the US.