What is the 14th amendment - and what are Trump’s plans for birthright citizenship?

Donald Trump, the US president-elect who’s staunchly opposed to changes to the constitutional right to bear arms (per the second amendment), has suggested he’s happy to amend the country’s constitution when it comes to the 14th amendment instead.

The Republican, who’s gearing up for a return to the White House in January following his victory in last month’s election, indicated he would do away with the citizenship rights afforded under the clause during an interview for Meet the Press.

He told Kristen Welker: “We would maybe have to go back to the people, but we have to end it. We’re the only country that has it.”

Well, that’s not accurate, as the Library of Congress has published a table detailing all of the countries which provide unconditional birthright citizenship, and it includes the likes of Brazil, Canada, Jamaica and Mexico.

Quick fact-check aside, Trump continued: “Do you know, if somebody sets a foot – just a foot, one foot – on our land, congratulations, you are now a citizen of the United States of America.

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“We’re gonna end that, because it’s ridiculous … if we can, through executive action. I was going to do it through executive action, but then we had to fix Covid first, to be honest with you.”

When Trump left office in January 2021, the US death toll for coronavirus passed more than 400,000.

So, explain it to me in simple terms: what is the 14th amendment?

We’re not talking about the third section of this amendment concerning disqualification from public office if an individual has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” (which is awkward for Trump given his ties to the events of January 6), but rather the very first section.

It states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

In other words, everyone born in America is immediately a citizen of the United States and their home state – irrespective of whether their parents are American citizens.

Trump basically wants to do away with the principle of granting citizenship by default to people born in the US, as part of his broader plans on immigration.

Can Trump actually end the 14th amendment?

Trump mentioned “executive action” in his NBC interview, but there’s been doubt over whether this would actually work from politicians and lawyers alike.

In a radio interview back in 2018, then Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan said a president could not terminate the 14th amendment by executive order.

Omar Jadwat, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, told NBC News that “litigation is a certainty” if Trump went down this route.

“It’s directly in the teeth of the 14th Amendment. It would essentially be an attempt to tear down one of the core constitutional protections that has been a key part of our country,” he added.

If the executive order approach doesn’t work for Trump, then he has the option of beginning the lengthy and exhaustive process of seeking an amendment to the US constitution, which requires a successful vote from two-thirds of both the House and the Senate.

Following last month’s election, Republicans have 53 senators and the Democrats have 47 senators – for such an amendment to pass here, some Democrats would have to side with the Republican proposal.

A similar challenge would face Trump in the House of Representatives, where Republicans only have a five-seat lead over the Democrats (220 to 215).

Even if it were to pass these two stages, then it must then be ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures.

What about Dreamers?

Dreamers is a term used to refer to undocumented immigrants, who came to the US illegally as children, who have been granted the deferred/temporary right to live, study and work in the country under the Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Commenting on the Dreamers, Trump said: “[They] are gonna come later, and we have to do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now.

“They don’t even speak the language of their country and yes, we’re gonna do something about the Dreamers.”

He added he will “work with the Democrats on a plan” for them.

Pressed by Welker on whether he wanted Dreamers to stay in the US, Trump replied: “I do. I want to be able to work something out.”

However, when Welker asked about parents living illegally in the US with children who are living in the country legally, and whether his administration plans to deport them together, Trump replied: “I don’t want to be breaking up families.”

He continued: “So the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.

“We don’t have to separate families. We’ll send the whole family very humanely back to the country where they came, that way, the family is not separated.

“If they come here illegally, but their family is here legally, then the family has a choice: the person that came in illegally can go out, or they can all go out together.”

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