New York: Ahead of his return to the White House, United States President-elect Donald Trump vowed to end birthright citizenship, which has been a cornerstone of American citizenship law over 150 years, amid fears that such move could lead to labour shortage in the country. It had been enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1868.
Speaking about his deportation plans, Trump reportedly told a news channel that the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been on line for 10 years to come into the country. “I think you have to do it. It’s a very tough thing to do. It’s — but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally…” he told in an interview to NBC.
What is Birthright Citizenship?
Birthright citizenship is also known as jus soli (right of the soil). It guarantees that anyone born on US soil is automatically a US citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. This principle states: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The amendment was introduced in the US Constitution in the post-Civil War era to overturn the infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision that had denied citizenship to African Americans. In a landmark judgment by the US Supreme Court in 1989 in United States vs Wong Kim Ark case, the court had ruled that children born to non-citizen Chinese immigrants in the US were citizens under the 14th Amendment.
But why Trump wants to change the law and can he change it?
Trump had terming this principle as a “magnet” for undocumented immigration. “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back,” he had told an in interview to NBC.
But experts claimed that a President cannot unilaterally modify or revoke a constitutional amendment through an executive order.
“No president has the authority to eliminate or modify a constitutional amendment. While an executive order to this effect is possible, it would be blatantly unconstitutional,” Michael LeRoy, a labour and immigration law expert at the University of Illinois, had mentioned in a university article.
Will this affect US workforce?
The broader immigration agenda of Donal Trump includes mass deportations and put restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration. His intention has been criticized by labour experts. The experts have warned of severe economic consequences if such a change to the amendment is made. Deporting millions could lead to labour shortages in the United State, they fear.
