Washington: President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in the US, starting on his first day back in office next month.
“We have to end it. It’s ridiculous,” he said in his first broadcast network interview since winning November’s election.
Attempts to do so would face significant hurdles, however, as it is enshrined in the US Constitution
The Republican also reiterated his mass deportation plans for undocumented immigrants living in the US, but offered to work with Democrats to help those who arrived as children.
He offered a caveat on whether he would keep the US in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato): “If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re doing a fair – they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely, I’d stay with Nato”
Trump said he would not seek to impose restrictions on abortion pills, though when asked to make a guarantee, he added: “Well, I commit. I mean… things change”
Trump said he thinks “somebody has to find out” if there is a link between autism and childhood vaccines – an idea that has been ruled out by multiple studies around the world.
Trump suggested his nominee for health secretary, vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr, would look into the matter
The president-elect repeated his promise that he will not seek to cut Social Security, nor raise its eligibility age, though he said he would make it “more efficient”, without offering further details
On the subject of immigration, Trump said he would seek through executive action to end so-called birthright citizenship, which entitles anyone born in the US to an American passport, even if their parents were born elsewhere.
Birthright citizenship stems from the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which states that “all persons born” in the United States “are citizens of the United States”.
Though he has vowed to end the practice, attempts to do so would face significant legal hurdles, and any executive order attempting to do so would likely immediately be overturned in court.
The bar to amend the Constitution is extremely high and requires approval from two-thirds of Congress, in both the House and Senate. It must also be ratified by three-fourths of states.
In the interview, Trump also said he would follow through on his campaign pledge to deport undocumented immigrants, including those with family members who are US citizens
“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” he said, “so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”
