Vivek Ramaswamy supports to end ‘birthright citizenship’ for illegal immigrants

Vivek Ramaswamy, an Indian-American Republican presidential candidate spoke of a 2015 proposal by former President Donald Trump to end the birthright citizenship in the US. He called for the end of birthright citizenship for children born in the United States with parents who entered illegally into the country.

During the second republican debate for the 2024 US at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California on Thursday, Ramaswamy said “I favour ending birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants in this country.”

Ramaswamy on birthright citizenship

This topic came into discussion when Ramaswamy was asked by Univision host Ilia Calderón “what legal premise” he would use to expel undocumented immigrants and their American-born children from the country.

“Now, the left will howl about the Constitution and the 14th Amendment. The difference between me and them is I’ve actually read the 14th Amendment,” he added.

While explaining the 14th Amendment he said “What it says is that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the laws and jurisdiction thereof are citizens. So nobody believes that the kid of a Mexican diplomat in this country enjoys birthright citizenship.”

Taking a dig at the opponents he said that his opponents onstage “are on the right side of this issue” by supporting the militarization of the southern border, defunding “sanctuary cities,” and an end to foreign aid to Mexico and Central America, but the candidate said he would go a “step further” by ending “birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants in this country.”

He also mentioned his children and said “As the father of two sons, it is hard for me to look them in the eye and say, ‘You have to follow the law,’ when our own government fails to follow its own laws,” The Post quoted Ramaswamy as saying.

Trump on birthright citizenship

The Republicans have been targeting the birthright citizenship of the US for a while now. In 2015, Trump proposed that Congress should end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Trump had also brought up this issue again in 2018 when he said that he planned to issue an executive order that would end the automatic grant of citizenship to those born in this country to noncitizens, however, that order never came to fruition, media reports suggest.

(With agency inputs)