President Trump blasted the United States’ birthright citizenship policy whereby the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens are given automatic American citizenship, noting that illegal aliens are “violating a border.”
During a roundtable discussion in West Virginia, Trump slammed the birthright citizenship policy — illegal aliens’ children are commonly referred to as “anchor babies” — noting that fellow Western nations do not have such a policy.
Trump said:
If you have a baby on our land, congratulations. That baby is a United States citizen. We’re the only one. Now Mexico has very tough policies. They can do whatever they want, which is the way it should be. You’re violating something very sacred. You’re violating a border. [Emphasis added]
As Breitbart News reported, there are 4.5 million anchor babies in the U.S. under the age of 18-years-old. This estimate does not include the potentially millions of anchor babies who are older than 18-years-old.
The 4.5 million anchor babies estimate exceeds the four million American children born every year. In the next decade, the CBO estimates that there will be at least another 600,000 anchor babies born in the U.S., which would put the anchor baby population on track to exceed annual American births — should the U.S. birth rate not increase — by more than one million anchor babies.
The birthright citizenship debate was not always partisan, as it currently is, with establishment Republicans and Democrats supporting anchor babies.
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) once opposed birthright citizenship, saying in 1993 that “no sane country” would reward illegal aliens with U.S. citizenship for their children.
Proponents of birthright citizenship often claim the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the policy. The Supreme Court, however, has never explicitly ruled that the children of illegal aliens must be granted automatic citizenship and many legal scholars dispute the idea.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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