FEB 03, 2025

Attorney General Alan Wilson defends Trump Birthright Citizenship order

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) - Attorney General Alan Wilson today joined 17 other states in defending President Trump’s executive order that restores the original meaning and value of American citizenship while ending birthright citizenship and the loophole for birth tourism and illegal aliens.  

In 2023, an estimated 225,000-250,000, or 7% of all births in the U.S. were to illegal aliens. The executive order comes in the shadow of record-breaking illegal crossings on the southern border under the Biden-Harris administration, including convicted criminals, violent gang members, and suspected terrorists. 

“The 14th Amendment was enacted to ensure that emancipated slaves were citizens. It was never meant to be a loophole so illegal aliens could have an anchor baby to allow the whole family to stay,” Attorney General Wilson said.  

Taxpayers are expected to foot the bill for these births through Medicaid, children’s health insurance, and healthcare for the accompanying family. Reports show that the lure of birthright citizenship has inspired some pregnant women to cross the southern border even the day before or the day of giving birth, with some going into labor while still wet from swimming across the Rio Grande River.   

The Executive Order eliminates the incentive for illegal immigration by reserving birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to American citizens or to legal noncitizens like lawful permanent residents.   

The states make the case that President Trump’s executive order is constitutional and follows the original meaning of the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment has a two-part test for granting American citizenship:  

  1. Was the individual born or naturalized into the United States?  
  1. Is that individual subject to the “jurisdiction” of the United States?  

The briefs describe how only children born to American citizens or legal noncitizens like lawful permanent residents pass both parts of the test.  

South Carolina joined the Iowa-led briefs, along with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.  

 Read the full briefs here, here, and here.

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