The leader of the House of Representatives, the Republican Paul Ryan , refuted the intention of President Donald Trump to sign an executive order to suppress the right to citizenship to the babies of those who are immigrants and are born in US territory.
Speaking to the WVLK radio station in Kentucky, Ryan stressed that “you can not end citizenship by birth with an executive order.”
“Obviously, you can not do that, ” he said when the interviewer asked him about the president’s recent comments on this matter.
Ryan continued: “As a conservative, I believe in following the text of the Constitution, in which case the 14th Amendment is quite clear, ” which protects the right to citizenship for anyone born in the United States.
President Trump responded critically Wednesday from his Twitter account to the words of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. “Paul Ryan should focus on keeping the majority instead of giving his views on citizenship by birth, something he does not know about , our new Republican majority will work on this, closing the immigration loopholes and securing our border!” said Trump.
Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about! Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Border!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
Trump justifies the intention to modify the norm, in force since 1868, wrongly asserting that the United States is the only country in the world that offers babies born on US soil the nationality, regardless of the status of their parents.
“We are the only country in the world where a person arrives, has a baby and the baby is a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all the benefits,” the president complained in an excerpt from an interview with Axios that will be broadcast completely by HBO next weekend.
Some thirty countries , such as Canada or Mexico and the vast majority of Central and South America, have recognized this right , according to an analysis by NumbersUSA , a group that promotes the reduction of immigration.
Like Ryan, constitutional lawyer Filiberto Agusti told Univision that “the president has no right to change the law when the Supreme Court of Justice has determined it .”
Agusti makes reference to the case ‘Dred Scott versus Stanford’ aired in 1857, in which Justice Benjamin R. Curtis wrote in the opinion that citizenship “can be acquired by birth” , an opinion endorsed five years later, in 1862, by the then US Attorney General, Edward Bates.
But Ryan’s disagreement with the president in this matter seems to go that far. “In what obviously we totally agree with the president, is coming to the root of the problem, which is illegal immigration uncontrolled.”
The legislator said that both the Republicans of the House of Representatives and the president agree on “the need to stop illegal immigration, secure our border and fix our laws.”
Josh Phillips graduated from California State University Long Beach with a major in biology and a minor in Sociology. Josh grew up in Los Angeles, but moved to Long Beach for college. Josh has written for several major publications including The Press-Enterprise and NPR. Josh is a community reporter and also covers stories important important to all Americans.
