Former President Donald Trump has pledged to stop Nigerians and other nationals from getting citizenship for their children born in the United States if wins the 2024 election.
Trump said he would issue an order during his first day back at the White House in January 2025 to deny citizenship to children with parents who are not American citizens or legal permanent residents.
Under a decades-long interpretation of the Constitution, children born on U.S. soil are automatically bestowed American citizenship, even if their parents are not themselves citizens or legally present in the country.
The policy had attracted criticisms in the past with detractors underpinning their argument on the encouragement it gives to parents to come to the U.S. illegally. Recall while was in the White House, he repeatedly floated the idea of challenging the interpretation, but never took action.
In his announcement Tuesday, Trump portrayed the move as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized immigrants and asylum-seekers that he has promised if he returns to the White House.
He has also vowed to launch the largest immigration roundup and deportation operation in U.S. history.
“My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries. They must go back,” Trump said in a video message on Tuesday.
