Most Americans support birthright citizenship after Trump threatens to end it

Most Americans support the continuation of birthright citizenship following former President Trump’s promise to try to end it if elected president, according to a new poll. 

A poll from The Economist and YouGov released Wednesday showed that 60 percent of U.S. adults surveyed said the country should continue to provide citizenship to all who are born here, regardless of their parents’ status. Only a quarter said the country should not continue it, while 15 percent said they were not sure. 

Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, said last week that he would seek to end birthright citizenship by executive order on his first day in office if reelected. 

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are U.S. citizens. Trump’s announcement came on the 125th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that children born in the country to non-citizens are citizens themselves. 

Trump previously mentioned considerations of trying to end birthright citizenship during his presidency. 

Most constitutional law experts have indicated that Trump could not make the change by executive order because birthright citizenship is constitutionally protected. 

Some critics of the Supreme Court’s finding have argued that the 14th Amendment was established to grant citizenship to former slaves following the Civil War and the children of those not born in the country should not be included. 

But the poll found widespread support for birthright citizenship across most demographic groups. 

Two-thirds of Black and Hispanic respondents said they support continuing the policy, while almost 60 percent of white respondents said the same. 

A majority of all age groups polled said they support it, and a majority of rural, urban and suburban respondents also do. 

Almost 80 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of independents said they want the country to continue birthright citizenship. Only 42 percent of Republicans said they do, compared to 40 percent who said they want the policy to end. 

The poll was conducted from June 3 to 6 among 1,500 U.S. adults, including 1,315 registered voters. The margin of error for the overall sample was 2.8 points. The margin for registered voters was 3 points.