Many people are reacting to President Trump's comments on the 14th amendment. The amendment grants birthright citizenship to children of non-citizens born in the US.
The president said in an interview with AXIOS news that "We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States ... with all of those benefits. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end. It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't" said the president, eluding to an executive order.
Marquette University Political Science Professor Paul Nolette says an executive order related directly to the 14th amendment wouldn't work in this case.
"Legally the only thing that can overturn a part of the constitution is a constitutional amendment... Congress can't overturn the constitution and neither can the president with an executive order," said Nolette.
Nolette believes the move to bring this up one week from the midterm elections is purely political.
"The timing of bringing up immigration here is no coincidence," said Nolette.
He adds an executive order the president issues would likely be tied up in the courts for years.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told TODAY'S TMJ4, "We incentivize people to come to this country illegally. We reward them. One of the rewards is citizenship for children that are born here. So we need to end those rewards. This is certainly one of those things we should be talking about... Our nation is a nation of immigrants. It's made this nation strong, but it has to be legal."
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin released a statement saying: "I disagree with the President, and I think what we really need to do is fix our broken immigration system and strengthen our border through comprehensive immigration reform."
Nolette adds to amend the constitution would require both houses of Congress to pass a resolution, and then 3/4 of the states would have to ratify it.
