Before Dems Were for Birthright Citizenship, They Were Dead Set Against It
Democrats are outraged after President Donald Trump suggested putting an end to birthright citizenship, but they used to completely agree with Trump’s stance.
Trump talked about potentially using an executive order to end birthright citizenship during an interview with Axios published on Tuesday.
“On immigration, some legal scholars believe you can get rid of birthright citizenship without changing the Constitution,” Axios reporter Jonathan Swan said.
“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment,” Trump responded. “Guess what? You don’t.”
Trump went on to discuss why he considers the idea of birthright citizenship “ridiculous.”
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in, has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, and it has to end,” Trump explained.
Democrats were outraged at Trump’s comments.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement calling Trump’s plan a distraction.
Leader Pelosi’s statement condemning Trump’s wish to end birthright citizenship quickly pivots to healthcare, which has become Democrats final argument heading into Election Day. pic.twitter.com/IL6aQn4rFM
— Marianna Sotomayor (@MariannaNBCNews) October 30, 2018
However, immigration wasn’t always the big wedge issue that it has become today. In fact, Democrats used to agree with Trump’s stance on birthright citizenship.
In 1993, then-Democratic Sen. Harry Reid said that “no sane country” would allow birthright citizenship.
“If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant? No sane country would do that, right?” Reid said.
“Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee a full access to all public and social services this society provides, and that’s a lot of services,” Reid continued.
Reid’s comments sound a lot like Trump’s comments about birthright citizenship.
Perhaps Democrats flip-flopped their position because they saw anchor babies as future voters.
It seems like Democrats would promise anything to keep their comfy and well-paying jobs as senators and representatives.
Democrats have made it abundantly clear that they will change their values whenever necessary to secure more votes.
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