Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) ripped into President Trump Tuesday over the news that he plans to sign an executive order ending the practice of birthright citizenship.
“Put this in perspective. @realDonaldTrump is willing to delete a passage from the Constitution to target people who don’t look like him,” Swalwell tweeted, sharing an Axios interview in which Trump said he would be willing to overrule the 14th Amendment.
The amendment states that all persons “born or naturalized in the United States” are “citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
{mosads}Trump told Axios in an interview published Tuesday that it is “ridiculous” that any person can come to the U.S., give birth, have their baby have U.S. citizenship.
“And it has to end,” he said.
When pressed on the legality of using an executive order to end the 14th Amendment, Trump said, “You can definitely do it with an act of Congress.”
“But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”
Though many scholars agree it is not possible to alter the 14th Amendment via executive order, some have argued that that particular amendment has been misapplied and was only intended for the children of lawful permanent residents.
Immigration has become one of the biggest issues of next month’s midterm elections, with the Trump administration mounting a vocal defense of its hard-line policies.
Vice President Pence said at a rally Monday night, “The truth is these human traffickers and organizations take advantage of loopholes in our laws to entice vulnerable families in the vain hope that they can come north and take the long and dangerous journey to come into our country illegally.”