President Donald Trump’s new law to eliminate birthright citizenship in the United States has reignited a national debate…and put the spotlight, even, on his own youngest son: Barron Trump.
Although the president has reiterated his intention to sign an executive order to revoke the constitutional right to automatic citizenship at birth on U.S. soil, what few remember is that his son Barron was born when Melania Trump was not yet a U.S. citizen.
Melania: legal resident, but not a citizen
Barron Trump was born on March 20, 2006 in New York.
At the time, his mother, Melania Trump, originally from Slovenia, had not yet obtained U.S. citizenship.
Melania immigrated legally to the U.S. in 1996 on a model visa and obtained permanent residency (green card) in 2001, under a controversial EB-1 visa.
She finally became a naturalized citizen in July 2006, a few months after the birth of her son.
This means that, under the criteria Trump has pushed for amending the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, Barron would not qualify as an automatic citizen if his own proposal were to be applied retroactively.
What exactly is Trump proposing?
On his first day back in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order to end birthright citizenship, a principle established more than 160 years ago in the U.S. Constitution, according to The New York Times.
This measure directly impacts the children of immigrants born in U.S. territory, who until now automatically obtained citizenship at birth.
The legal response was immediate: multiple lawsuits were filed and several federal judges issued injunctions to stop the implementation of the order.
However, in late June the Supreme Court overwhelmingly sided with the Trump administration in rejecting such injunctions nationwide.
Although the high court did not rule on the constitutionality of the decree, this decision allows the order to begin to apply – at least temporarily – in most states.
This has generated great legal and social uncertainty.
Questions arise as to whether or not a baby born in the U.S. will be able to become a citizen depending on the state in which it is born, or whether it could face deportation despite being born on U.S. soil.
The issue will most likely escalate again in the courts, as thousands of Latino families await clarity on the future of their children.
Would Barron Trump be affected?
Legally, no. Barron Trump was born on U.S. soil, therefore he is a natural born citizen under current law.
Besides, his father is a U.S. citizen.
In addition, Trump’s proposals would not be retroactive, meaning that birthright citizenship would not be taken away from those who already have it.
However, the case has raised ethical and political questions: is it coherent to advocate the elimination of a right that benefited one’s own child?
“The president should be the first to acknowledge that his son is also the son of an immigrant,” stated civil rights attorney Laura Esquivel on CNN.
“The 14th Amendment protects everyone born in this country, with no political exceptions or last names.”
But Barron is not the only one
Barron would not be President Donald Trump’s only child born when his mother was not yet a naturalized U.S. citizen.
His three oldest children with Ivana Trump – Donald Jr. (b. 1977), Ivanka (b. 1981) and Eric Trump (b. 1984) – were also born in New York years before their mother became a citizen in 1988, according to official records.
In all of these cases, Donald Trump’s U.S. citizenship as a father guaranteed his children’s nationality at birth.
Tiffany Trump, on the other hand, was born to Marla Maples, a U.S. citizen by birth, and faced no such controversy.
A debate that touches personal heartstrings
Buzzy
This makes the presidential proposal to eliminate automatic citizenship by birth even more complex, as it would call into question a right that also benefited his own family.
Many users accuse the president of hypocrisy and of using immigration as a political tool, while his own family benefited from the current immigration system.
Melania, for her part, has not made any public statements about the proposal.
But during her time as first lady she repeatedly defended the “legality” of her immigration process, and helped her parents obtain citizenship through the “family reunification” system that Trump also tried to eliminate in his first term.
Barron would not be the only child of President Donald Trump who was born when his mother was not yet a naturalized U.S. citizen
