President Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to attend Wednesday's case before the U.S. Supreme Court about who is entitled to birthright citizenship.
The justices will hear arguments in Trump v. Barbara, which is challenging his 2025 executive order ending the birthright citizenship practice.
Trump issued the order upon taking office, saying birthright citizenship, a product of the 14th Amendment that has been widely interpreted to guarantee citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., has been widely abused by foreigners, specifically illegal immigrants.
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The case has come before the high court after multiple judges blocked the order from taking effect.
The Trump administration has argued the 14th Amendment was originally intended to grant citizenship to former slaves, not to children of illegal immigrants or temporary visitors.
"This is not about Chinese billionaires or billionaires from other countries who, all of a sudden, have 75 children or 59 children in one case or 10 children becoming American citizens," Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
"This was about slaves. And if you take a look, slaves. We're talking about slaves from the Civil War."
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The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1898 after the Supreme Court held that children born on U.S. soil are automatically granted citizenship with very few exceptions, such as children of diplomats.
Trump noted that people and companies, many from China, have profited off the birth tourism industry by bringing people into the U.S. with the intent of giving birth so their children could be granted American citizenship and, therefore,reap its benefits.
"People are making a living, a big living, getting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from bringing people in and saying, ‘Congratulations, your whole family is going to be a citizen of the United States of America,’" he said. "That's not what it was for. It wasn't for billionaires bringing people in or family, and it was for the children of slaves."
Critics warn that if birthright citizenship ended, it could create a new class of people born in the U.S. who are not recognized as citizens, while supporters say it would be an incentive for illegal immigration and exploitation.
"It is the craziest thing I've ever seen," said Trump. "It's been so badly handled by legal people over the years. If you look at the original birthright citizenship papers, they all happened right after the Civil War. The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves. … Our country is being scammed. We're getting all of these people."
