Incoming President Donald Trump will end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants who entered the country without legal permission on his first day in office, his incoming officials said.
It is one of 10 executive orders that Trump will sign on Monday as part of his anti-immigration agenda.
Trump has long pledged to end birthright citizenship, which means anyone born in the U.S. — including the children of undocumented immigrants, tourists, and students in the country on short-term visas — is automatically a citizen.
It has been in place for over a century.
“On a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States,” an incoming White House official told reporters on Monday.
Immigrant communities and campaigners have been bracing for the crackdown.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868, guarantees birthright citizenship.
“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,” it states.
Trump did not mention ending birthright citizenship explicitly during his inaugural speech at the Capitol’s Rotunda on Monday, but immigration was a dominant theme.
He said that he would be signing “a series of historic executive orders” on his first day in office and of those, immigration was at the top of his list.
“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump said at Monday’s ceremony. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
Both legal and political leaders have previously poured cold water on Trump’s pledge, with former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan saying: “You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order.”
The “14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process,” he added.
Changing the Constitution requires support by a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress.
The Supreme Court has affirmed that the language covers effectively any person born within the country, but right-wing legal groups and Trump allies have pushed for the nation’s highest court to narrowly define the amendment to end birthright citizenship altogether.
Even conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho, who was appointed by Trump, has said that “to be ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the U.S. is simply to be subject to the authority of the U.S. government.
“The phrase thus covers the vast majority of persons within our borders who are required to obey U.S. laws,” he wrote. “And obedience, of course, does not turn on immigration status, national allegiance, or past compliance. All must obey.”
Trump also intends to suspend refugee resettlement for four months. For decades the program has allowed hundreds of thousands of people from around the world fleeing war and persecution to come to the U.S.
He is expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, according to reports.
