Donald Trump’s scorched earth approach to politics leaves no room for compromise. He frames the issues in the most extreme ways to bash the opposition and entertain his base at his rallies. Saying you are going use an executive order to end the birth rights of those born to illegal immigrants on American soil is bold. But, it is also inflammatory and an overreach of Presidential power. He raised this issue in tandem with saying the caravan of immigrants moving through Mexico that is seeking asylum is a “national emergency” and an “invasion”. Furthermore, this emergency warrants calling up more troops than we have in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Trump’s immigration rhetoric makes me recoil. I don’t want to have anything to do with these ideas.
What Compromise Might Look Like
Yet, I am not against limiting the birth right clause to exclude some cases such as those who travel here just before delivery. If Donald Trump had said he wanted to explore with Congress a way to limit birth rights so people could not come here just to have their baby become an American, we might find common ground. Amending the Constitution to change the definition of birth right is a reasonable idea. Adopting a law along the lines the British model would close the current “loop-hole” of giving citizenship to babies born immediately after their mother enters the country. In Britain, to be given citizenship, one must be born to at least one parent who is a citizen or a “settled” resident (Atlantic). The “settled” resident clause would allow citizenship to be extended to children of parents who have been in the US a long time, regardless how they entered.
Winning just to Win
With any other president, there would be room to compromise. There would likely be bi-partisan support. But Donald Trump’s extremism has ruined all chances of across aisle support. Why does he do this? Because it was never about changing the birth right law but rather it was a ploy to get his supporters riled up, angry, and pumped up to vote. It is all about winning the election. He really does not care about policy and does not have ideological convictions. He just wants to win. For him, it is all about winning… at any cost.