Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy calls to end the right of unauthorized immigrants to citizenship during the second GOP debate.
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During the debate on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy brought up a 2015 idea from Donald Trump, who was then running for office: ending birthright citizenship.
Ramaswamy said, “Militarize the southern border, stop funding sanctuary cities and end foreign aid to Mexico and Central America to end the incentives to come across, but I do go a step further. I favor ending birthright citizenship for the kids of illegal immigrants in this country. Now the left will howl about the Constitution and the 14th Amendment.”
Ramaswamy acknowledged his fellow candidates’ support for border militarization, defunding sanctuary towns, and slashing foreign aid to Mexico and Central America when asked about the legal justification for expelling undocumented immigrants and their children born in the United States. He then suggested taking things a step further by depriving children of illegal immigrants of their right to citizenship.
Ramaswamy contended that children born in the country to undocumented parents should not acquire citizenship because their parents violated immigration laws, citing the 14th Amendment, which confers citizenship to most people born in the U.S.
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As the father of two sons, Ramaswamy said, “It is difficult for me to look them in the eye and say: “You have to respect the law,” when our own government doesn’t follow its own rules.
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) weighed in on the matter, asserting that the 14th Amendment “was designed for slavery and not for illegal immigration.”
I’m not sure how to survive a Supreme Court argument. However, I believe it is clear from the perspective of the Constitution that it was created for slavery, not for illegal immigration, Scott said.
