WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, today emphasized the grave dangers of President Trump’s executive order aiming to terminate birthright citizenship, a constitutional right granted under the Fourteenth Amendment. In his remarks, Senator Welch outlined how Americans’ constitutional and civil rights are being violated under the Trump Administration, including through the President’s weaponization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enact his violent mass deportation campaign. 

“First of all, our nation was built on immigrants. Our nation was also built on slave labor. And our nation had this Dred Scott decision, which literally said African Americans were not citizens—not entitled to be citizens—and that wrong was finally righted when that Dred Scott decision was overturned by the constitutional amendment that did establish the right of citizenship by birth,” said Senator Welch. “I believe that it is very clear that the law says if you’re born here, you are a citizen here…I will not submit that an executive order by a President can overturn a Supreme Court decision.”   

Senator Welch continued: “I think this whole attack on what has been accepted law would hurt, not help, us address the immigration challenges that we face as a nation…This is fundamentally a political problem that has to be resolved through discussion, and collaboration, and ultimately, a respect for the dignity of the people who are here; a respect for people who want to come here as long as it’s done in the right way.”   

Read Senator Welch’s full opening remarks as delivered here and watch his remarks below: 

Read and watch Senator Welch’s exchange with University of Virginia School of Law Professor Amanda Frost outlining the negative consequences for generations of Americans if Trump’s executive order were enforced: 

Professor Frost: That [citizenship] clause has been on the books since 1868. So, all of us would be subject to scrutiny of our ancestry. And for those who had a parent who was temporarily present, or a grandparent, or great-grandparent who violated immigration law maybe three generations in the past, everyone’s citizenship would be suspect. And the [Trump] administration recognizes that…They are arguing for interpretation that would unwind the citizenship of the nation. 

Sen. Welch: That sounds like it would create an immense amount of uncertainty for people who are here…as to legally what their status was…they’d have to argue about it. 

Professor Frost: Yes, it would create uncertainty for all of these families, and not just people whose parents are immigrants. According to the Trump Administration—and this is [in] the memos they’ve issued to implement their executive order, if it’s to go into effect—everyone has to provide evidence of their citizenship or immigration status at the time of their child’s birth, or their child is presumed not to be a citizen of the United States. 

Sen. Welch: Professor Frost, I want you to just go through some of the other consequences that would affect people’s situation if this executive order were enforced. 

Professor Frost: First, I just want to point out—because I think it’s not clear to everyone when they discuss this issue—that the executive order denies citizenship not just to the children of undocumented immigrants or tourists, but also to the children of people that have been legally present in the United States for years, who are applying for green cards, who maybe receive a green card the day after the child is born—doesn’t matter. Under the executive order, that child is born a noncitizen, potentially stateless, denied all the benefits and privileges of citizenship, and theoretically, deportable on day one of their life. And then every single American family having a child will now have to prove their status before that child is considered a citizen by the U.S. government. It doesn’t matter if they go back to the Mayflower—that’s what everyone will have to prove going forward. 

Senator Welch is a cosponsor of the Born in the USA Act, legislation aimed at blocking the implementation of President Trump’s unconstitutional executive order to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States. The legislation would prevent any government funds from being used to carry out or enforce this directive, which blatantly violates the U.S. Constitution. Federal courts have temporarily blocked the order’s implementation, but the Trump Administration has appealed that ruling. 

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