Official White House press releases or executive order documentation

Trump Aims to End Birthright Citizenship, Deploy Military for Mass Deportation

Dec 16, 2024, 11:22 AM

President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to end birthright citizenship, a policy that grants U.S. citizenship to anyone born on American soil, as part of his broader immigration strategy. Trump aims to enact this change through executive action on his first day in office, targeting what he perceives as an exploitation of the 14th Amendment. His approach includes mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, focusing initially on criminal migrants such as drug dealers, human traffickers, and gang members. Trump has also hinted at declaring a national border emergency and deploying the military to aid in these efforts. Legal scholars and critics argue that such a move would likely face significant legal challenges due to the constitutional protections provided by the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, could potentially play a pivotal role in deciding the fate of birthright citizenship, although the amendment's text and historical precedents suggest that altering this right would be a formidable task.