Bloomberg Línea — Florida Governor Ron DeSanti is tightening his anti-immigrant stance and has proposed to review the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in the United States, specifically directed to the children of undocumented immigrants.
During a speech in Eagle Pass, Texas, DeSantis said, as part of his proposal called “No Excuses,” that he intends to take steps to challenge the right of children of undocumented immigrants to US citizenship at birth.
“The idea that you can cross the border, have a child two days later and they automatically become a US citizen, that was not the original intent of the 14th Amendment,” DeSantis stated.
“Millions of illegal aliens are flooding across the border and tens of thousands of Americans are dying from fentanyl that is being smuggled into our country,” DeSantis stated in a tweet on Monday.
This is not the first time DeSantis has addressed this issue. In 2018, in a Fox News interview, he expressed his disagreement with the current policy granting citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants.
DeSantis argues that tying citizenship to the future offspring of undocumented immigrants acts as an incentive for irregular immigration.
This new announcement by DeSantis is part of his anti-immigrant rhetoric and is part of his policy proposals for next year’s elections. These include the construction of a wall on the southern border to stop the flow of immigrants.
The Florida governor has also expressed his commitment to deporting those who overstay their visas, imposing taxes on remittances sent by undocumented immigrants, and ending the catch-and-release policy.
“For decades, leaders of both parties have produced empty promises on border security and now is the time to act to stop the invasion once and for all. As president, I will declare a national emergency on day one and I will not rest until we build the wall, close the illegal entry and win the war against the drug cartels. No excuses, we will get it done,” the Republican asserted said, according to Mexico’s La Jornada newspaper.
In addition, DeSantis has promised to increase the salaries of Border Patrol agents and strengthen sanctions against fentanyl trafficking into the country.
These proposals have generated controversy and criticism from immigrant rights advocates, who argue that these measures encourage discrimination and do not comprehensively address the complexity of immigration in the United States.
From Trump’s playbook
Also in 2018, then-President Donald Trump promised an executive order to eliminate birthright citizenship, though he ultimately did not carry it out.
On June 24, the former president appeared at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference on the first anniversary of the Dobbs decision that overturned a 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion. There, he said part of his presidential agenda will also be to sign an executive order to end automatic citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants; and to reinstate Title 42 on the US-Mexico border, according to Bloomberg.