Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Barron Trump, Melania Trump, Donald Trump, US News, World News, News, Politics
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Barron Trump, Melania Trump, Donald Trump, US News, World News, News, Politics
Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday (20 January) he's already signed several executive orders.
The 78-year-old Republican signed many policies - legally-binding written orders to the federal government that do not require congressional approval - including withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organisation (WHO), as well as delaying the TikTok ban.
He's also made some extremely serious moves to end birthright citizenship leaving some to wonder what will happen to his youngest son Barron Trump’s US citizenship.
When Trump references birthright citizenship, he's likely talking about the legal principle of jus soli - which means 'right of the soil' in Latin.
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The first sentence of the 14th Amendment to the US constitution establishes the principle of birthright citizenship: "All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
In short, the legal principle grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, regardless of their parents' citizenship. So, such a principle allows nearly everyone born on US soil to immediately become a US citizen.
The order in question tries to make it so that children born in the US, but without at least one parent who is a lawful permanent resident or US citizen, are no longer automatically extended US citizenship.
It works by disallowing federal agencies from issuing or recognising documentation proving US citizenship for such children who meet that criteria in the US 30 days after the order was signed.
The executive order largely targets children who are born to unauthorised immigrants as well as people legally in the US on temporary visas.
Barron, whose mother is Slovenian-born Melania Trump, was born in Manhattan back in 2006.
He's a US citizen by birth as, at the time of his birth, Trump was a 'natural-born US citizen' while his mother was a lawful permanent resident who has held a green card since 2001.
This means the executive order wouldn't impact him.
Birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment and any attempt to revoke it will likely bring immediate legal challenges.
This means that, most likely, Trump will not be able to end birthright citizenship - and definitely not through executive order.