South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined 23 other states in backing President Trump’s executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship for undocumented immigrants and so-called “birth tourists.” The executive order, issued on President Trump’s first day in office, aims to prevent automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are not legal residents.
Federal district court judges initially blocked the policy, but the Supreme Court ruled in June that these courts had exceeded their authority and allowed the executive order to proceed. Despite this decision, lower courts have since issued new orders attempting to halt its implementation.
Attorney General Wilson commented on the matter: “The Fourteenth Amendment was written and passed to make it clear that former slaves were citizens of this country. 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 now seeking a Supreme Court ruling on whether his executive order aligns with constitutional requirements. The group of attorneys general argue that the Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to grant automatic citizenship to individuals born in the U.S. whose parents are tourists or undocumented immigrants entering for childbirth purposes.
South Carolina joined a legal brief co-led by Tennessee and Iowa, 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.
