October 30: On This Day In 2018
Who cares that the Constitution enshrines Birthright Citizenship in the 14th Amendment. OTDI 2018 Trump said he would end it with his executive order anyway.
“No you won't!” said almost everyone else. Even GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan noted: “You obviously cannot do that… I’m a believer in following the plain text of the Constitution, and I think in this case, the 14th Amendment is pretty clear, and that would involve a very, very lengthy constitutional process.”
The 14th Amendment states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States…" If you're born here, you're a citizen here.
But Trump doesn't like anything that might theoretically boost the number of Democratic-leaning immigrants in this country, so he attacked the very concept of it. It's what authoritarians do. They think they can single-handedly impose laws. Or simply ignore existing laws.
Fortunately, this particular dream of his went nowhere. But Trump has tested many schemes to overwrite laws he doesn't like. Even if 95% of them fail, some get through, and that's how our Constitution and our democracy crumble. Especially now given that the GOP-appointed Supreme Court has granted presidents nearly limitless power to do as they please, as long as that president believes it to be within the scope of their authority.
Ironically, a different part the 14th Amendment was used by plaintiffs in several suits in 2023 to justify their claim that Trump is ineligible to run in '24 because he incited insurrection. It states:
"No person shall...hold any office...under the United States...who, having previously taken an oath...to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same...
That claim also went nowhere, despite the belief of many legal scholars that the law was "self-executing," and thus didn't need anybody's specific approval to validate its enforcement.
Which other laws might not survive a second Trump Administration?
Dive Deeper
The New York Times has the story on Trump’s scheme
Immigration Impact has an editorial about its importance
Editorial Cartoon: Bill Bramhall, NY Daily News, via Twitter
On This Day In The Trump Administration: Trump tries to end birthright citizenship