Tuesday 30 October 2018

Trump says he's going to end constitutional right to birthright citizenship with an executive order

Trump intends to sign an executive order ending "birthright citizenship"—the right of people born in the United States to citizenship irrespective of their parent's status, as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

MSNBC:

Trump, in an interview with Axios, part of which aired Tuesday morning, said birthright citizenship “has to end” and that it would, “with an executive order.”

"We're the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits," Trump said. "It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end."

"It's in the process. It'll happen with an executive order,” he said, adding that he's consulted with the White House counsel on the matter.

He's just making it up as he goes along, as usual. I can't speak to the shades of meaning in the Fourteenth Amendment that Trumpkins think allows its clear intent to be inverted. But it's annoying to watch him claim that the U.S. is the only country to have birthright citizenship and the Axios interviewers just sit there slack-jawed and clueless. I know we can't be expected to rebut every dumb lie instantly but... we're not sending our best.