WASHINGTON D.C. — President Donald Trump says he plans to sign an executive order that would end the right to citizenship for the children of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on US soil.
It’s unclear if the President has the authority to strip the citizenship of those born in the US with an executive order, and he did not say when he would sign the order in the clip released by Axios. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits,” Trump said in an interview for “Axios on HBO.”
Several other countries, including Canada, have a policy of birthright citizenship, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for reducing immigration.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” he continued.
“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” he said, adding that he has run it by his counsel. “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order,” Trump said.
The President didn’t provide any details of his plan but said that “it’s in the process. It’ll happen.”
The move is certain to set off a legal fight that could potentially wind up in the Supreme Court over his authority to issue Executive Orders with such broad scope.
The interview is a part of “Axios on HBO,” a new four-part documentary series debuting on HBO this Sunday, according to the news site.
