President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to continue fighting to end “so-called birthright citizenship.”
“So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other,” he wrote on Twitter.
The president’s proposal to issue an executive order to end birthright citizenship was revealed by Axios reporter Jonathan Swan on Tuesday during an interview with Trump.
“It was always told to me that you needed a Constitutional amendment–guess what? You don’t,” Trump said. “Number one, you don’t need that. Number two, you can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it with just an executive order.
The proposal drew wide condemnation from establishment journalists and Democrats but earned praise from Senator Lindsey Graham for addressing a long-standing immigration issue.
The president also highlighted an old video clip of Harry Reid arguing against birthright citizenship.
“Harry Reid was right in 1993, before he and the Democrats went insane and started with the Open Borders (which brings massive Crime) “stuff,’” he wrote. “Don’t forget the nasty term Anchor Babies. I will keep our Country safe.”
Trump argued on Twitter that birthright citizenship was not covered by the 14th Amendment.
“It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'” he wrote. “Many legal scholars agree…..”
The president predicted that the issue would soon be resolved in the Supreme Court.
Trump first challenged the idea of birthright citizenship during his presidential campaign, setting off a media firestorm over the idea.