‘Unconstitutional’: White House spokesperson on birthright citizenship

Addressing her first briefing, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said illegal immigrants are ‘criminals’ for the Donald Trump administration.

Updated on: Jan 29, 2025, 09:49:56 IST

By HT News Desk, New Delhi

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Reasserting Donald Trump-led new US government's stand on birthright citizenship, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in her first-ever briefing, declared the Trump administration believes granting automatic American citizenship to anyone born in the United States is ‘unconstitutional.’

FILE - Karoline Leavitt speaks to the news media across the street from Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

“This administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional,” Leavitt, the youngest White House spokesperson in history, said, adding that the Trump administration will ‘take the fight to the Supreme Court.’

Also Read: 22 states file lawsuit to block US President Donald Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship

Shortly after taking oath on January 20, the Republican leader, now a 2-term President, signed a flurry of executive order, including one aimed at ending birthright citizenship.

The order seeks to change the rules to deny the granting of citizenship to the children of migrants who are either in the US illegally or on temporary visas. It applies to children born on 19 February and onwards, and does not apply retroactively.

However, the order has already been blocked by a federal judge, who called it ‘blatantly unconstitutional.’

Also Read: Donald Trump says will appeal birthright citizenship order

Meanwhile, speaking on actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Leavitt said those who gained entry in the US by breaking laws are ‘criminals.’

“They (illegal immigrants) are criminals as far as this administration goes. I know the last administration didn't see it that way. So it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that's exactly what they are,” she told reporters.

(With ANI inputs)

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