Trump once again says he's looking at ending birthright citizenship

President Trump hasn't given up on his plan to end birthright citizenship.

Trump said in an interview last October that he planned to sign an executive order ending the right of citizenship to every child born in the United States, and although he never ended up doing so, 10 months later, he once again said he's considering it.

"We're looking at that very seriously," Trump said Wednesday in response to a question about ending birthright citizenship with an executive order, reports Vox's Aaron Rupar. He went on to call the concept "frankly ridiculous" and described it as, "you walk over the border, have a baby, congratulations, the baby is now a U.S. citizen."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

When Trump raised the idea of ending birthright citizenship by way of an executive order last year, he drew plenty of criticism from his fellow Republicans, including then-House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said the president "obviously" can't do that, considering it's a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment and the "14th Amendment is pretty clear." Trump quickly shot back at Ryan, claiming the speaker was commenting on an issue he "knows nothing about." Trump also insisted that the 14th Amendment doesn't actually cover birthright citizenship and that it "will be ended one way or the other."