Former President Donald Trump announced via Breitbart on Tuesday that he will work to eliminate birthright citizenship on day one of his new term should he take back the White House, saying the policy is a "magnet" for illegal immigration.
"As part of my plan to secure the border, on day one of my new term in office I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship," Trump said in a video.
"My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries. They must go back. Nobody could afford this. Nobody could do this—and even morally it’s so wrong," he continued, adding the United States, "is among the only countries in the world that says that even if neither parent is a citizen nor even lawfully in the country their future children are automatic citizens the moment the parents trespass onto our soil."
Trump said the new policy will end "'birth tourism' where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the planet squat in hotels for their last few weeks of pregnancy to illegitimately and illegally obtain U.S. citizenship for the child, often to later exploit chain migration to jump the line and get green cards for themselves and their family members."
Trump ran on ending birthright citizenship during his first campaign in 2015. After entering into office, he signaled he was going to go through the campaign promise a few times during his term but his administration ultimately did not end birthright citizenship.
In the time since he left office, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants have been allowed to enter the United States under the Biden administration. Common among them have been pregnant women who have given birth.
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