LEWISBURG, Pa. -- President Donald Trump's plan to sign an executive order stripping citizenship from children born to illegal immigrants is getting a lot of reaction, and people in central Pennsylvania are weighing in on the topic.
It's not clear whether President Trump has the authority to do this with an executive order. The topic of changing the Constitution brought out strong reactions from both sides.
President Trump says he plans to sign an executive order to end what's called birthright citizenship. That would end the right to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States.
Some legal experts believe that would mean changing the United States Constitution which was amended 150 years ago to include the words:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States," said Bucknell University Professor Michael James, reading from the Constitution.
Professor James is a political science professor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg. He believes if President Trump writes an executive order, it would be challenged in federal court.
"So the question is really whether or not the federal judiciary and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in favor of President Trump and uphold such an executive action."
When it comes to President Trump's comments, people we spoke with had all sorts of different opinions.
"It's something that our Founding Fathers wrote into our Constitution. I certainly don't think Trump ought to be messing with our Constitution that way," said Mary Lotspeich of Lewisburg.
"If you have a child that was born here, I'm sorry, that was your reason for coming," said Jane McCleary of Mifflinburg, who agrees with the president.
"It's a drain on our economy. We need to support them," McCleary said.
"You can't just issue an executive order with something that totally conflicts with the Constitution. He has to do it the right way, and he's not going to get it done because no one's going to go along with that," said Catherine Graf of Lewisburg.
President Trump did not give any details of his plan but did say it's in the process and it will happen.