Ron DeSantis has vowed to end birthright citizenship as part of his campaign for the 2024 Presidential election.
Echoing promises that former President Trump made last month, The Florida Governor's new "No Excuses" immigration platform asserts that children born in the United States should not be entitled to U.S. citizenship if their parents are "illegal aliens".
"Dangling the prize of citizenship to the future offspring of illegal immigrants is a major driver of illegal migration," DeSantis said. "It is also inconsistent with the original understanding of 14th Amendment, and we will force the courts and Congress to finally address this failed policy."
The Fourteenth Amendment was interpreted to protect birthright citizenship in the Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. This case set the precedent that any child born in the country would automatically become a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether the parents were citizens.
As the ruling majority proclaimed, "The Fourteenth Amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens ."
DeSantis justified aggressive anti-migration tactics by mentioning that some migrants, among millions, are criminals and suspected terrorists. But the Department of Justice found that undocumented immigrants in Texas had much lower crime rates than native-born and legal U.S. citizens.
Taking further inspiration from Trump's legacy, the No Excuses plan also includes a call to build a 600 mile wall along the US-Mexico border, and pledges that DeSantis "will use every dollar available to him as President and every dollar he can squeeze out of Congress to get it done."
Under the Trump Administration, construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was expected to be extraordinarily expensive. Completed wall construction proved to be harmful to ecosystems, tribal nations, and public health.
The Florida Governor's vigorous campaign has already received criticism from several Florida legislators, who say that his obsession with stoking culture-wars makes him unfit to be the President.
"Governor DeSantis has been more interested in running for President than running the state of Florida," said Congressman Maxwell Frost, who represents portions of central Florida. "What’s been happening in Florida should scare every single person across the entire country."
