Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has followed in Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s footsteps on the issue of birthright citizenship.
National Journal reported that during an interview with on the Michael Medved show, Cruz voiced his support for a constitutional amendment ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.
The big push to end birthright citizenship started when Trump listed it as one of the goals of his immigration policy. He took to the airwaves and found himself in political fights with both people on the left and the right, including Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
A movement to end birthright citizenship isn’t new, people on both the left and the right and have been pushing to abolish it for decades now.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gave a speech on the Senate floor denouncing the policy and a slew of other GOP contenders, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Ben Carson, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C), have all either criticized or voiced support for ending the policy.
“Absolutely. We should end granting automatic birthright citizenship to the children of those who are here illegally,” Cruz said to Medved when asked if he supported Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship.
Medved pressed him on whether a change to the constitution was possible.
“I think it is possible, but any constitutional amendment by its nature is difficult to achieve,” Cruz replied.
This is a departure from his position from 2011 when he said to the Houston Chronicle that he thought a constitutional amendment wasn’t worth it.
Even Trump is opposed to the constitutional amendment.
“It’s a long process, and I think it would take too long. I would much rather find out whether or not anchor babies are actually citizens,” Trump said to O’Reilly during his most recent interview.
Despite claims by many commentators who said the 14th amendment gave birth right citizenship to all people, the children of illegal immigrants were not given that right until 1982 when Justice Brennan put it in a footnote of his majority ruling Plyler v. Doe.
The case had nothing to do with birthright citizenship.
It has since never been brought back up to be ruled on by the full Supreme Court.
