Birthright citizenship didn’t apply to Trump’s children, experts say

President-elect Donald Trump in a Dec. 8 interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press" again vowed to end birthright citizenship, enshrined in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which says all people born in the United States are U.S. citizens.

Social media critics of Trump’s plan accused him of hypocrisy, saying if birthright citizenship didn’t exist, four of his children wouldn’t be U.S. citizens because their mothers weren’t U.S. citizens at the time of their births.

"Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship would mean 4 of his children wouldn't be considered US citizens," a Dec. 8 Threads post said. 

The post continued, saying Donald Trump Jr. was born in 1977, Ivanka Trump in 1981 and Eric Trump in 1984, and their mother, Ivana Trump, became a U.S. citizen in 1988. Barron Trump was born in March 2006 and his mother, Melania Trump, became a citizen in July 2006.

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It’s unclear how Trump would try to end birthright citizenship — by executive order or through a constitutional amendment. But legal experts told PolitiFact that four of Trump’s children, all of whom were born in New York City, would be U.S. citizens regardless of the 14th Amendment, because Trump was a U.S. citizen when they were born.

(Screenshot from Threads)

Generally, people born in the U.S. or born abroad to U.S. citizens are considered U.S. citizens. The 14th Amendment says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." It was ratified in 1868 and granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people. Some critics of birthright citizenship argue the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" language in the amendment provides a path to overturn the amendment.

Rogers Smith, a University of Pennsylvania political science professor emeritus, said Trump is proposing to end birthright citizenship only for children born in the U.S. to immigrants in the country illegally.

"He is not proposing to abolish birthright citizenship entirely," Smith wrote in an email to PolitiFact, adding that Trump doesn’t have the power to do so. Citizenship is bestowed through the Constitution, or through laws passed by Congress, he said.

"But Trump’s children are not children of unauthorized aliens — they are children of a U.S. citizen and legal immigrant mothers. They would not be affected by his executive order," Smith said.

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Trump, in a May 23, 2023, post on Agenda 47, which described his campaign platform, said he would sign an executive order on Day 1 of his presidency to "end automatic citizenship for children" of parents who are in the U.S. illegally. In his NBC interview, he said he might have to accomplish this with a constitutional amendment instead.

In his 2023 proposal for an executive order, Trump said, "It will direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic U.S. citizens."

Under that language, Trump’s children would be considered U.S. citizens.

U.S. law doesn’t delineate any difference in a child’s citizenship status if they are born in the U.S. to one citizen parent and one noncitizen. But there are statutes that address the status of children born overseas in cases in which one parent is a U.S. citizen and another is a noncitizen.

University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt and other experts pointed to Section 301 of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act and a chapter that covers U.S. citizens at birth.

Under that law, "The father has to meet a requirement of having resided in the U.S. for 1 year, which Trump would obviously meet," Smith said. "Since his children would be U.S. citizens under this statute if born overseas, there is no doubt that the courts would interpret the statute as making them birthright citizens if born in the U.S."

New York University law professor Adam Cox said Trump was somewhat unclear in his NBC interview about his plans for birthright citizenship, and noted a recent New York Times report that said Trump would "stop issuing citizenship-affirming documents" to children born in the U.S. to immigrants here illegally.

"That is a narrower claim about refusing to recognize the citizenship of children born to ‘undocumented migrant parents,'" Cox wrote in an email. 

George Washington University law professor Cori Alonso-Yoder said the implications of Trump’s proposal are hard to ascertain right now, but if Trump tries to end birthright citizenship status for children born to immigrants in the country illegally, the Immigration and Nationality Act is likely the most applicable law in the case of Trump’s children.

A Threads post said, "Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship would mean 4 of his children wouldn't be considered US citizens."

Generally, anyone born in the U.S. or born abroad to a U.S. citizen is considered a citizen. Experts told PolitiFact that because Trump was a U.S. citizen at the time of his children’s births, his childrens’ citizenship status would be unaffected.

No U.S. law delineates any difference in a child’s citizenship status if they are born in the U.S. to one citizen parent and one noncitizen parent. But the Immigration and Nationality Act says that a child born overseas to at least one U.S. citizen parent is considered a U.S. citizen, provided the parent meets residency requirements. Experts say courts likely would interpret the statute as making the children citizens if they were born in the U.S.

We rate the claim False.