President-elect Trump to end 'birthright citizenship,' 'work with the Democrats on a plan' to help 'Dreamers' stay in US

President-elect Donald Trump explained during his interview with Meet the Press on Sunday that he plans to end birthright citizenship with an executive order.

Birthright citizenship, enshrined in the 14th Amendment, grants citizenship to anyone born on US soil regardless of their parents' immigration status. While such an executive order would likely face significant legal challenges, Trump argued that the policy is outdated and unique to the United States.

“We have to end it,” Trump said of birthright citizenship, also calling the law “ridiculous.”

Trump noted that birthright citizenship as it stands in the US is something no other country has. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, no Western country in Europe offers outright citizenship with no exceptions to children born in their country. Many Western countries around the world have largely abandoned the idea of birthright citizenship in the last few decades.

In the interview, Trump reaffirmed his intent to enact stricter immigration policies, telling moderator Kristen Welker that the US has “no choice” but to deport those who are in the country illegally. Welker asked the president-elect about the estimated 4 million families in the country with mixed immigration status, such as parents who are here illegally but have kids who are legal citizens. Trump responded by saying he doesn’t “want to break up families,” and “the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.” 

“We don’t have to separate families,” Trump said. “We’ll send the whole family very humanely, back to the country where they came.”

“If they come here illegally but their family is here legally, then the family has a choice. The person that came in illegally can go out, or they can all go out together,” he added.

However, the president-elect added that he is open to working with Democrats on a plan to protect Dreamers – individuals brought to the US as children who are currently shielded under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump acknowledged the unique challenges faced by this group, many of whom have lived in the US for decades and have established lives and careers.

“We have to do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now, they don’t even speak the language of their country,” Trump explained. “I will work with the Democrats on a plan.”

“They were brought into this country many years ago,” he continued. “Some of them are no longer young people, and in many cases they've become successful. They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses. Some cases they might have large businesses, and we’re going to have to do something with them.”