Disgraced former US President Donald Trump has stated that he intends to end birthright citizenship through an executive order if he is reelected to a second term in 2024.
He said he intends to sign an executive order on his first day in office, clarifying that children of people who migrate to the US will not automatically receive US citizenship.
Trump believes that this policy change will deter people from trying to settle in the US or give birth there.
He also criticised President Joe Biden and spoke of what he called "birth tourism," where pregnant individuals travel to the US to give birth and obtain citizenship for their children.
Trump proposed that birthright citizenship should require at least one parent to be a citizen or a legal resident.
Trump described his plan in a video uploaded on social media.
He says: "As part of my plan to secure the border on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship."
And adds: "My policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries."
Trump is facing opposition to the GOP leadership race from other Republican candidates, such as Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who criticize his leadership and advocate for a generational change in the party.
Mr DeSantis in particular stepped up his criticism of Trump as he kicked off his presidential campaign.
Assailed by Trump for months, he pivoted from oblique swipes to direct questioning of the former president's conservative credentials during a round of interviews with friendly media last week, notably his record on criminal justice.
DeSantis called a bipartisan bill Trump signed in 2018 that reduced mandatory minimum federal prison sentences and allows a pathway for non-violent offenders to reduce prison time “a jailbreak bill.”
Trump pleaded not guilty last month to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing.
Trump has made the New York case and the long list of other investigations into his personal, professional and presidential conduct central to his campaign to reclaim the White House in 2024.
He portrays himself as the victim of a coordinated, politically motivated effort to sully his chances.
