Trump Escalates Challenge to Birthright Citizenship, Floats Revoking Some U.S.-Born Status

The remarks follow adverse rulings against his post‑inauguration order that sought to deny citizenship to children of parents in the U.S. unlawfully.

Overview

In a Dec. 9 Politico interview, the president said the United States "cannot afford" to host "tens of millions" who received citizenship by birth.
He asserted the Fourteenth Amendment was originally intended for children of enslaved people after the Civil War.
He did not rule out trying to strip citizenship from some people born in the country, calling the idea "a very interesting case."
His executive order signed after the Jan. 20 inauguration directed federal agencies not to confer citizenship on children of parents present in the U.S. unlawfully at the time of birth.
Lower courts repeatedly blocked the order, the Supreme Court limited such injunctions in late June, and an appellate court in San Francisco later ruled the order invalid and unconstitutional.