Washington: Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate, has re-ignited a contentious idea put out by former President Donald Trump and other "MAGA" supporters by promising to revoke "birthright citizenship" for children of illegal immigrants already in the country.
Son of Indian immigrants to the US, Ramaswamy took a strong position on the issue at the second Republican presidential debate by challenging the interpretation of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which says “all persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the laws and jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.”
Ramaswamy, however, disputes that interpretation, contending that it does not grant children of illegal immigrants the right to citizenship at birth.
“Nobody believes that the kid of a Mexican diplomat in this country enjoys birthright citizenship. Not a judge or legal scholar in this country will disagree with me on that. Well, if the kid of a Mexican diplomat doesn’t enjoy birthright citizenship, then neither does the kid of an illegal immigrant who broke the law to come here,” he argued. Ramaswamy’s pledge came when he was asked by Univision host Ilia Calderón “what legal premise” he would use to expel undocumented immigrants and their American-born children from the country. He started off by saying that the people opposing him "are on the right side of this issue" because they favour militarising the southern border, defunding "sanctuary cities," and cutting off aid to Mexico and Central America. But by banning "birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants in this country," he would go "a step further."