Who gets to be an American? Since the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1868, the answer to that question has been cemented in the American psyche: anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.
That is until Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025—the first day of his second term as President—that would make birthright citizenship conditional on the legal status of one’s parents, targeting many of the hundreds of thousands of children born each year to immigrants.
That is until Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025—the first day of his second term as President—that would make birthright citizenship conditional on the legal status of one’s parents, targeting many of the hundreds of thousands of children born each year to immigrants.
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NewsTranscript
00:00President Trump has made it clear that restoring fairness to our immigration system and defending
00:06the true intent of the 14th Amendment are central to his vision of making America great
00:12again.
00:13His historic executive order to end birthright citizenship marks a critical step forward,
00:20and now with the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025, we can solidify these reforms into
00:27lasting law and codify them.
00:30This bill is quite simple.
00:32Let me share with you the criteria for automatic citizenship.
00:37Citizenship will be granted only to children born in the United States with at least one
00:43parent who is, one, a U.S. citizen or national, number two, a lawful permanent resident, and
00:52number three, a lawful resident who is serving in the military.
01:02This is about ensuring that citizenship, a cornerstone of our national identity, is protected,
01:08respected, and aligned with the principles upon which this country was built.
01:14This is the time, ladies and gentlemen, to pass this legislation.
01:19People who are abusing this now, they're here temporarily, and they're here illegally.
01:25They should not be granted the special gift of citizenship in the United States of America
01:31when you've abused our laws.
01:32You know, this is a big-time industry with birthright citizenship.
01:37People will come from many, many countries to give birth, and they pay a lot of money
01:42to get here, so this bill would negate that and so, therefore, would stop that stream.
01:49People come for nefarious reasons.
01:50Donald Trump and Republican politicians have embarked on a campaign to radically alter
01:55American society by stripping away constitutional, legal, and civil rights, ending birthright
02:02citizenship, and pushing people into the shadows.
02:06Recent executive orders calling for mass deportations are nothing more than a political ploy.
02:15These policies do nothing, nothing to advance our economic growth.
02:23They do nothing to strengthen our nation or uphold our American values.
02:30This is not the America we aspire to be.
02:33What we need is comprehensive immigration reform, reform that creates a pathway to citizenship
02:40for undocumented immigrants so that they can fully contribute to our American dream.