{"id":13716,"date":"2025-01-21T23:51:53","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T23:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/21\/what-is-birthright-citizenship-and-why-does-trump-want-to-end-it-national\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T23:51:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T23:51:53","slug":"what-is-birthright-citizenship-and-why-does-trump-want-to-end-it-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/21\/what-is-birthright-citizenship-and-why-does-trump-want-to-end-it-national\/","title":{"rendered":"What is birthright citizenship and why does Trump want to end it? – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> signed an executive order hours after being sworn in that could lead to children born in the country no longer being deemed as citizens regardless of their parents\u2019 status.<\/p>\n

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Trump promised during his campaign to become president he would end \u201cbirthright citizenship,\u201d<\/a> something opponents say creates an incentive for people to come into the U.S. illegally.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tWhat is birthright citizenship?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Birthright citizenship allows for anyone born in the U.S. to be considered a citizen, regardless of whether their parents are also citizens of the country or they\u2019re on a tourist visa or even living there illegally.<\/p>\n

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Legal experts say attempts to restrict that are likely to fail if challenged in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very likely to fail because birthright citizenship is a constitutionally protected right guaranteed by the first sentence of the 14th Amendment, U.S. Constitution and upheld by previous Supreme Court decisions,\u201d said Amanda Frost, a University of Virginia law professor.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s executive order, however, questions that line and whether it extends citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. automatically.<\/p>\n

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Under Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a>, which would take effect 30 days from Tuesday, people are excluded from automatic citizenship if their mothers were not legally in the U.S. and fathers were not citizens or lawful permanent residents, or if their mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and their father was not a citizen or legal permanent resident.<\/p>\n

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It also bars federal agencies from issuing documents recognizing citizenship, like a passport, or accepting documents issued by state or local governments.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tWho does the order effect?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The Pew Research Center says in 2016, there were about 250,000 babies born to parents who did not hold legal status in the country, down from a peak of 390,000 in 2007.<\/p>\n

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As of 2022, the most recent data available, the organization found there were 1.2 million U.S. citizens who were children of unauthorized immigrants living in the country.<\/p>\n

In a lawsuit filed by 18 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a statement that if Trump\u2019s order were allowed to stand, more than 150,000 children born annually in the U.S. would be denied their right to citizenship for the first time.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDo other countries have birthright citizenship?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

There are about 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, that apply birthright citizenship \u2014 also known as\u00a0jus soli\u00a0<\/em>or citizenship by birth on soil, according to World Atlas.<\/p>\n

Others, like the U.K. and Australia, allow for automatic citizenship if one parent is a citizen or permanent resident, known as jus sanguinis.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Canada, birthright citizenship does not apply to children of foreign diplomats or representatives of foreign governments. Canada also recognizes citizenship of children born to citizen parents abroad<\/a>, but that cuts off after the first generation.<\/p>\n