President Donald Trump's efforts to end so-called "birthright citizenship" via executive order are getting a legal boost from nearly two dozen attorneys general across the country.
"For the past four years, disastrous immigration policies transformed every State into a border state by flooding them with illegal aliens, including criminals convicted of crimes in their home country, violent international gang members, and suspected ISIS terrorists. Illegal immigration imposes significant costs on the States and their people. And creating incentives for illegal immigration puts lives at risk. Allowing virtually anyone born on American soil to claim American citizenship creates incentives for illegal immigration and exacerbates States’ costs," an amicus brief, signed by 18 attorneys general and filed in federal court, states.
The brief was signed by attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
TRUMP: "Birthright citizenship...was meant for the children of slaves. This was not meant for the whole world to come in & pile into the United States." pic.twitter.com/nyvjqgOfB9
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 30, 2025
“President Trump is right: we must restore the meaning and value of American citizenship. For too long, mass numbers of illegal aliens and foreign tourists—especially from China—have been entering our country just to give birth here and hand their kids American citizenship. On top of that, taxpayers are on the hook to pay for it. I’m defending President Trump’s executive order that closes the birthright citizenship loophole and eliminates the incentive for illegal immigration. No one should be rewarded for breaking the law," Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird released in a statement.
Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill have introduced legislation to reform "birthright citizenship" by amending "section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth."
This is your reminder that basically no one for the first 100 years after the 14th Amendment's ratification thought that it mandated birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of illegal or nonimmigrant aliens.https://t.co/C3fPCAeXaq pic.twitter.com/cMwvJXJu4X
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) January 21, 2025