President-elect Donald Trump revived talk of abolishing birthright citizenship during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Dec. 8, saying he was “absolutely” going to end the policy. Trump also raised the issue in his first presidential campaign in 2016, but he never followed through with a promised executive order to challenge the longstanding  interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

Republican White House hopeful Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina on Friday questioned the legality of campaign promises made by former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully.

Calls to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants are gaining steam among the 2024 Republican presidential primary field, with now at least three hopefuls backing the controversial move.

Vivek Ramaswamy said this week that he supports ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.

Presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) questioned promises by primary rivals to end birthright citizenship, saying it may not be constitutional.

Both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have pledged to end the practice.

“I think the Congress would have to act. The president cannot do that by himself or herself outright,” Scott said in a CBS interview Friday.

Scott said his opponents may be making promises they legally are not able to keep.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would end “unqualified” birthright citizenship for children whose parents are not themselves U.S. citizens.

The legislation, titled the “End Birthright Citizenship Fraud Act of 2023,” would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act “to reflect the original intent of the 14th Amendment’s ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ clause,” according to a statement on the measure. 

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”  

Kerry Starchuk’s activism begins with homemade granola cookies – specifically, when she took a plate to her new neighbors.

Except the man and a toddler boy who she heard bouncing a basketball outside, and the two pregnant women with them, hadn’t moved into the house next door to hers, where she has lived since 1988. Visitors from China, they were residing in her neighborhood only temporarily and didn’t respond to her greeting. After they awkwardly accepted her cookies, she never saw the group again.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee the right to citizenship to everyone born in the country and he would continue his push to end it, bringing his tough line on immigration to the fore as the country heads into next week’s congressional elections.

President Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship has tossed a grenade into the final stretch of the midterm elections, roiling centrist Republicans and further endangering a House majority already at risk of slipping away.

On balance, the evidence suggests the Constitution requires it.

"It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And it has to end," Trump said. "It's in the process. It'll happen ... with an executive order."