Trump: End birthright citizenship for some US-born babies

In this Oct. 27, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Ill. Eager to focus voters on immigration in the lead-up to the midterm elections, Trump on Oct. 29 escalated his threats against a migrant caravan trudging slowly toward the U.S. border as the Pentagon prepared to deploy thousands of U.S. troops to support the border patrol. less

Photo: Jeff Roberson, AP

As the immigration debate rages on, take a look at what photographers are seeing through their visual reporting.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News

U.S. Border Patrol agent Marcelino Medina detains Veronica Reyes, 26, of Veracruz, Mexico, near the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, Texas, Thursday, May 10, 2018. Reyes was with a group of five immigrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. The rest were able to cross back into Mexico and escape detention. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Jeny Patricia Figueroa Fernandez, 27, holds her three-year-old daughter, Maria Dolores, after surrendering to U.S. Border Patrol Supervisory agents near the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, Texas, Thursday, May 10, 2018. She was with a group of six immigrants from Honduras. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

A group of immigrants, including children, take shelter under the trees minutes after smugglers rafted them across the Rio Grande into the U.S. at a site called ìEl Rincon,î in Hidalgo County, Texas, Friday, May 11, 2018. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Angie Hernandez Martinez, 9, holds on to her mother, Doris Martinez, 34, after they surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents near the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, Texas, Thursday, May 10, 2018. They were one of several Honduran families that surrendered to agents that morning. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

A smuggler prepares to raft a group of immigrants across the Rio Grande in Reynosa, Mexico, Friday, May 11, 2018. The smugglers cross them to a site on the U.S. side in Hidalgo County called “El Rincon.” The area is known as a place where human smugglers drop off Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

A group of immigrants, including children, walk along a road minutes after smugglers rafted them across the Rio Grande into the U.S. at a site called ìEl Rincon,î in Hidalgo County, Texas, Friday, May 11, 2018. The area is known as a place where human smugglers drop off Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Jeny Patricia Figueroa Fernandez, 27, and her three-year-old daughter, Dolores, wait as U.S. Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Christian Alvarez interviews other immigrants near the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission, Texas, Thursday, May 10, 2018. A group of six from Honduras, including Fernandez, turned themselves into agents soon after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Antonia Florinda Lopez Ixmata, 20, sits with her children, Erik Lopez, 2, and Aymer Damian Lopez, 4, on the Mexican side of the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge by Roma, Texas, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. They are Mayan descendants from Guatemala and have been waiting on the bridge for 8 days hoping for asylum in the United States. Amid this new era of a "zero-tolerance" policy toward immigrants in the U. S., those seeking asylum through the United States' legal ports of entry --namely, the international bridges--are being denied entry. They've been told by agents that Department of Homeland Security facilities are overwhelmed. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Two-year-old Violet Estrada, from Honduras, naps on a blanket on the Mexican side of the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge by Roma, Texas, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. The toddler is with her father and they have been waiting on the bridge for 11 days. Amid this new era of a "zero-tolerance" policy toward immigrants in the United States, those seeking asylum through the United States' legal ports of entry --namely, the international bridges--are being denied entry. They've been told by agents that DHS facilities are overwhelmed. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Honduran immigrant Ada Santos, 29, hands out donated roasted chicken to children as immigrants from Central America and Cuba camp on the U.S. side of the McAllen-Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. The immigrants are waiting, some for five days, hoping for asylum in the U.S. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

During prayer, Marco Estrada, 25, hugs his daughter, Violet, 2, on the Mexican side of the Roma-Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. More than 50 mostly Central American immigrants are camped at the bridge hoping for asylum in the United States. Estrada is hoping to join a cousin in North Carolina. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Sara Mejorado, left, with Templo Cristiano de Roma, gathers to pray with migrants camped on the Mexican side of the Roma-Miguel Aleman International Bridge by Roma, Texas, Tuesday, June5, 2018. More than 50, mostly Central American migrants, have been camping on the bridge, hoping for asylum in the United States. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Upon arriving, Central American children line up to eat as their parents seek help at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley's Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Ariel Benancio Janiz Rivera, 37, holds his tired daughter, Adriana, 3, while reading a paper with immigrants rights and duties at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, May 9, 2018. The Honduran family was just release from an immigration detention center and were headed to Virginia. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Emelin Melissa Perdomo Romero, 11, waits as her mother gets help at the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley's Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, May 9, 2018. They are from El Salvador and were just released from an immigration detention center and were headed to North Carolina. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Immigrant kids walk through the C.B.P. facility where the newly formed "tent city" is located, Saturday, June 16, 2018, in Tornillo. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre/ for the San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre/for The San Antonio Express-News, Ivan Pierre Aguirre

An aerial shot of the C.B.P. facility where the newly formed "tent city" is located, Saturday, June 16, 2018, in Tornillo. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre/ for the San Antonio Express-News

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre/for The San Antonio Express-News, Ivan Pierre Aguirre

MCALLEN, TEXAS - June20, 2018: Asylum seeker Apolinaria, 37, center, who did not want to use her last name, holds her two-year-old son while waiting to be escorted to the Catholic Charities Humanitarian Respite center before making her final trip to stay with family members. She lost her house during the volcano eruption in Guatemala. less

Photo: Veronica G. Cardenas, VerÛnica Gabriela C·rdenas/For The Express-News

Girlie Gary, of Mandeville, Louisiana, joins members of different faiths for a vigil and prayer walk organized by Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley at Archer Park in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday, June 20, 2018. The group walked a few blocks to the Federal Courthouse in support of families separated by the President Donald Trump Administrationís ìZero Toleranceî policy. Earlier in the day, Trump signed an executive order halting the separation of families caught entering the country illegally. The order does not end the zero tolerance policy that has separated more than 2,300 minors from their parents. less

Photo: JERRY LARA, San Antonio Express-News

Parishioners gather at Saint Mark Catholic Church for a solidarity with migrants vigil, Thursday, June 21, 2018, in El Paso. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre

Mariana Ibarra and Jocelyn Alves embrace moments before they talk about their experience of being separated from their sons by CBP at the border, at Saint Mark Catholic Church during a solidarity with migrants vigil, Thursday, June 21, 2018, in El Paso. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre less

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre

Mariana Ibarra and her son Max at their home, Saturday, June 23, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. Ibarra was separated from her son for 8 months while she was at an ICE processing center. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre/San Antonio Express-News less

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre

Mariana Ibarra sits with her son Max in their home, Saturday, June 23, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. Ibarra was separated from her son for 8 months while she was at an ICE processing center. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre/San Antonio Express-News less

Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre

Immigrants wait to get on buses at the San Antonio Greyhound Bus station afer being released from federal detention June 22, 2018.

Photo: Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News

Immigrants cross Pecan St. to get to the San Antonio Greyhound Bus station afer being released from federal detention centers in South Texas June 22, 2018.

Photo: Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News

Immigrants arrive at the San Antonio Greyhound Bus station afer being released from federal detention centers in South Texas June 22, 2018.

Photo: Josie Norris, San Antonio Express-News

Participants take part in the Voto Latino StopSeparation.org rally outside the "tent city," for immigrant children separated from their parents after crossing illegally into the U.S. or seeking asylum, at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo on June 24, 2018. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, from left, U.S. Senator Tom Udall and U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke walk towards the entrance of the "tent city," built to house immigrant children separated from their parents after crossing illegally into the U.S. or seeking asylum, for a tour at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo on June 23, 2018. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Julian Castro, former mayor of San Antonio and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary, speaks during the Voto Latino StopSeparation.org rally outside the "tent city," for immigrant children separated from their parents after crossing illegally into the U.S. or seeking asylum, at the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo on June 24, 2018. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Miriam, of Guatemala, speaks about being separated from her four-year-old son upon entering the U.S., during a press conference at Casa Vides, an Annuciation House migrant shelter, in El Paso on Monday, June 25, 2018. 32 parents who were separated from their children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were released to Casa Vides on Sunday. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Iris, who is separated from her six-year-old son, talks with Dolores Huerta, left, and Delia Garcia, right, at Casa Vides, an Annuciation House migrant shelter, in El Paso on Monday, June 25, 2018. 32 parents who were separated from their children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were released to Casa Vides on Sunday. Huerta is the co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the National Farmworkers Association and Delia Garcia, an alum of St. Mary's University, is the Executive Director of The National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Dolores Huerta, right, speaks with Maria, center, who was separated from her seven-year-old daughter by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and does not know where she is, and Miriam, left, who is separated from her four-year-old son, at Casa Vides, an Annuciation House migrant shelter, in El Paso on Monday, June 25, 2018. 32 parents who were separated from their children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were released to Casa Vides on Sunday. Both women are from Guatemala. Huerta is the co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the National Farmworkers Association. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Nelvin and Iris, both of Honduras, wait as other parents speak about being separated from their children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, during a press conference at Casa Vides, an Annuciation House migrant shelter, in El Paso on Monday, June 25, 2018. 32 parents who were separated from their children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection were released to Casa Vides on Sunday. Nelvin is separated from his 17-year-old son and Iris is separated from her six-year-old son. less

Photo: Lisa Krantz, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump pauses while speaking at a rally at Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Ill. Trump says he wants to order the end of the constitutional right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born in the United States. The president's comments to "Axios on HBO" come amid a renewed push for hardline immigration policies in the lead-up to the midterm elections. less

Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP

FILE - In this March 23, 2016 photo, the Constitution is held by a member of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump says he wants to order the end of the constitutional right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born in the United States. less

Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP

Trump: End birthright citizenship for some US-born babies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is making another hardline immigration play in the final days before midterm elections, declaring that he wants to order an end to the constitutional right to citizenship for babies born in the United States to non-citizens.

With seven days to go before high-stakes elections that he has sought to focus on fearmongering over immigration, Trump made the comments to "Axios on HBO." Trump, seeking to energize his supporters and help Republicans keep control of Congress, has stoked anxiety about a caravan of Central American migrants making its way to the U.S.-Mexico border. He is dispatching additional troops and saying he'll set up tent cities for asylum seekers.

The president has long called for an end to birthright citizenship, as have many conservatives. An executive order to revoke the right would spark a court fight over whether the president has the unilateral ability to change an amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment guarantees that right for all children born in the U.S.

Asked about the legality of such an executive order, Trump said, "they're saying I can do it just with an executive order." He added that "we're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States," though a 2010 study from the Center for Immigration Studies showed that 30 countries offered birthright citizenship.

An excerpt of the interview was posted on Axios' website on Tuesday.

The president said White House lawyers are reviewing his proposal. It's unclear how quickly he would act and the White House did not provide further details.

A person familiar with the internal White House debate said the topic of birthright citizenship had come up inside the West Wing at various times over at least the last year, but has some internal detractors. White House lawyers have debated the topic, and expect to work with the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel to develop a legal justification for the action. It is one of many immigration changes being discussed including asylum law changes, and barring the migrant caravan from entering the country.

But administration officials said there would likely be no decisions until after the midterms, due in part to the president's trip to Pittsburgh.

Legal experts questioned whether Trump has the authority to do this by executive order.

Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, said Tuesday that the Constitution is very clear.

"If you are born in the United States, you're a citizen," he said, adding that it was "outrageous that the president can think he can override constitutional guarantees by issuing an executive order,

Jadwat said the president has an obligation to uphold the Constitution. Trump can try to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment, "but I don't think they are anywhere close to getting that."

"Obviously, even if he did, it would be subject to court challenge," he added.

Suzanna Sherry, a professor of law at Vanderbilt Law School specializing in constitutional questions, said those advising Trump that he can change the Constitution via executive order are simply mistaken. "He can't do it by himself and, in fact, he can't do it even if Congress passed a statue."

"I think it would take a Constitutional amendment," she said. "I don't see it as having any plausible legal basis," she said.

But others suggest the president may have an opening.

Jon Feere, a senior adviser at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is among those who has long argued that that the president could limit the citizenship clause through executive action.

"A president could direct his agencies to fall in line with his interpretation of the Supreme Court's rulings, which are arguably limited to children of permanently domiciled immigrants (the court has never squarely ruled on children born to tourists or illegal aliens). He could direct his agencies to issue Social Security numbers and passports only to newborns who have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanently domiciled immigrant," he wrote in 2015 in an op-ed in the Hill.

In the final days before the Nov. 6 midterms, Trump has emphasized immigration, as he seeks to counter Democratic enthusiasm. Trump believes that his campaign pledges, including his much-vaunted and still-unfulfilled promise to quickly build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, are still rallying cries for his base and that this latest focus will further erode the enthusiasm gap.

Trump voiced his theory that birthright citizenship could be stripped during his campaign, when he described it as a "magnet for illegal immigration." During a 2015 campaign stop in Florida, he said: "The birthright citizenship - the anchor baby - birthright citizenship, it's over, not going to happen."

The first line of the 14th Amendment states: "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."

The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1866 during the period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. It was ratified in 1868 by three-fourths of the states. By extending citizenship to those born in the U.S., the amendment nullified an 1857 Supreme Court decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford), which ruled that those descended from slaves could not be citizens.

Republicans in Congress continue introducing bills to end birthright citizenship, including legislation this session from conservative GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa who has aligned himself with some nationalist political leaders abroad. King's bill has almost 50 co-sponsors in the House. King's legislation though would likely face a cool reception in the Senate where there is no companion bill pending, and a handful of senators supported past efforts.

King said he had not discussed the issue with the president at any length in recent months, but that it had come up "in passing" several times in group discussions. He said he hadn't personally considered birthright citizenship to be part of the caravan issue and applauded the president for connecting the issues.

"Sending this message out, it's another component of saying to the caravan: Don't come in here. Some are pregnant, no doubt," he said.

He stressed there's never been a Supreme Court case on the issue, "so it's never been tested."

The Axios HBO series debuts on Sunday.