All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.
Angering pro-immigration advocates, former President Trump recently promised to issue an executive order repealing birthright citizenship if he returns to the White House. While few constitutional scholars believe Trump would have the power to change birthright citizenship, some say the courts would have to weigh in.
Straight Arrow News contributor David Pakman thinks a Trump executive order on the issue would not only violate the Constitution but also have several other unintended consequences that the Right would not favor kindly.
The 14th Amendment says that if you are born in the United States, or any jurisdiction thereof, subject to a jurisdiction thereof, you are a citizen. And this has become a major controversy among some on the Right who love to use the term “anchor babies,” or say that we are allowing illegals to come here and birth children and then we can’t kick them out. So right-wingers are very excited about this. But I have a word of warning to the right-wingers cheerleading the ending of birthright citizenship because it can bring with it significant unintended consequences.
Number one, it does appear that it would violate the Constitution as well as Supreme Court precedent that establishes birthright citizenship as a fundamental right. Trump is saying, “Well, we’re going to do it in a way that it doesn’t violate…” Okay, legal experts I’ve spoken to say it doesn’t seem there is such a way because this is a fundamental right, it’s part of the Bill of Rights to the Constitution.
Secondly, if you do this it will instantly increase the undocumented population by virtue of making individuals who previously were granted legal status here — you’re taking that status away. They say they want to reduce the number of undocumented people here — they would immediately increase it.
And the Right loves to say we care mostly about criminal aliens, the people committing violent crimes, et cetera. If you instantly, by virtue of doing away with birthright citizenship, create an entire new tranche of undocumented immigrants who you now have to find and deport, you are going to dilute the focus on the so-called violent criminal illegals that the Right says are actually the priority. It will get in their own way of doing the thing they say is most important.
Economically, this will have unintended consequences because it will reduce the labor force, it will reduce the tax base and it will reduce consumer demand. Not only do immigrants, documented and undocumented, commit crimes at a lower rate than domestically-born American citizens, in addition to that, they both create GDP growth by working and they spend money because they also need housing and food and whatever else the case may be.
And then lastly, it would start years of legal challenges that will be both expensive and completely counterproductive.
