Expert says president can't void birthright citizenship by executive order
Immigration has been a major issue for the midterm election, but now it's revved up by the president's claim that he will end birthright citizenship for some U.S born babies through an executive order.
"We're the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits. It's ridiculous," President Donald Trump said to HBO.
The president is wrong about only the U.S. having birthright citizenship. That false statement might be the least of his worries.
"You're going to see some measured attempts taken that will probably end up in the courts for a long time," said U.S. Senator John Cornyn. "I suspect that the president's executive order will probably end up in the courts."
"I've been doing constitutional law for 17 years," said South Texas College of Law professor Charles "Rocky" Rhodes. Rhodes says the president's plan for an executive order is not possible.
"The constitution is very clear. All persons born and naturalized in the United States are citizens. You can't be any clearer than that," Rhodes said. "So the presidents, so congress can not change that by legislation or an executive order."
"Our office has been flooded with calls from parents concerned people saying what's going to happen, has something been done, should I be afraid, what steps do we need to take? So obviously this is sending a shock wave through our community," said Cesar Espinosa executive director of FIEL of Houston.