Days before midterm elections, President Donald Trump said he wanted to put an end to birthright citizenship in the United States.
It became a topic of conversation during ongoing discussions over a large migrant caravan makes its way to the U.S. It's made up of thousands of people, most of which are from Honduras, fleeing poverty and violence.
However, the President says he will not grant them asylum. He instead sent troops to the border, saying the caravan included "some very bad people."
Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 29, 2018
Two days later he vowed to end the U.S. birthright citizenship as stated in the constitution.
So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
However, there's been much debate over if it's even possible. Here's how Tennessee politicians and officials have responded:
Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn released the following statement:
“Our founding fathers did not intend for birthright tourism to be an appropriate pathway to American citizenship. I’ve not seen the executive order and so I’ll reserve comment until I do. However, I have long said that we need to build the wall, end the visa lottery system, and end chain migration. We need to fix our broken borders, make immigration fair to those who want to come to this country the right way, and end the crazy practice of birth tourism for United States citizenship. American citizenship is to be treasured. My current concern is making sure we stop the migrant caravan that is attempting to invade our country at our southern border and support the President’s actions to do so. My opponent is on the opposite side of the wall, is for open borders and for sanctuary cities. That is not what the people of Tennessee voted for in 2016, and it is not what they want now.”
Former governor and U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen also released a statement on the topic:
"I have always been a constitutionalist and the Constitution is very clear about who is an American citizen. It’s awfully hard to read the Constitution and conclude that any President can change what it lays out. I look forward to working together on common-sense solutions to fix our country's broken immigration system in the U.S. Senate."
In an interview with NewsChannel 5, U.S. Senator Bob Corker said the constitution is clear about the issue.
"That's not possible. It's a constitutional amendment and you cannot - thankfully, for our country, regardless of what the issue is - You cannot change the constitution by executive order. I do think we should look at the issue, though. I do," said Corker.
President Trump held a press conference announcing his plan to deny asylum to the members of the migrant caravan.
Watch President's press conference:
