Attorney General Alan Wilson joins support for President Trump’s Executive Order on birthright citizenship

(COLUMBIA, S.C.) – South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined a coalition of 24 states in support of President Trump’s birthright citizenship policy.

On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order to stop birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants and birth tourists. Three district court judges attempted to halt President Trump’s policy, but in June, the Supreme Court ruled that the district courts had overstepped their bounds and allowed the order to take effect. However, the lower courts have now issued new orders attempting to halt the executive order from taking effect.

“The Fourteenth Amendment was written and passed to make it clear that former slaves were citizens of this country,” said Attorney General Wilson. “It specifically excludes people who are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, which means foreign diplomats and anyone who’s here illegally, because they’re subject to the jurisdiction of their home countries.”   

President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to decide whether the executive order is constitutional. The attorneys general say the Fourteenth Amendment never intended to grant automatic citizenship to tourists or illegal aliens who are coming into our country for the sole purpose of having an “anchor baby.”

South Carolina joined the Tennessee and Iowa co-led brief along with Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

You can read the full brief here.