Donald Trump predictably moved to end birthright citizenship on his first day

Call me petty, call me unhinged, but I thought Melania Trump and Usha Vance both looked like crap yesterday. I can really tell that Usha, in particular, is not familiar with political-spouse dressing and she clearly doesn’t have the right kind of people advising her. Melania, on the other hand, just looked drugged, stiff, orange and old. Her Adam Lippes ensemble at the inauguration was tragic. But not as tragic as her inaugural ball dress – a custom piece by Hervé Pierre, Melania’s longtime style advisor. These people are so tacky.

Obviously, the fashion is not the point of the first 24 hours of the Trump administration. In between Nazi salutes, Lauren Sanchez’s fake t-ts and Melania’s horrible skin damage, some work was done. Surprising absolutely no one, Trump issued dozens of executive orders and he pardoned 1600 insurrectionists. He ordered all federal employees to work from the office, not from home. He once again removed America from any and all climate accords. And of course he’s ending birthright citizenship with a stroke of a pen.

President Trump on Monday declared that his government would no longer treat the U.S.-born children of undocumented people as citizens, signaling his intent to essentially ignore the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in a move that is all but certain to invite a legal challenge.

His order directed federal agencies not to issue citizenship documents to such children, starting in 30 days.

It flew in the face of the guarantee, rooted in common law and enshrined in the Constitution for more than 150 years, that anyone born in the United States is automatically an American citizen.

In the executive order, Mr. Trump said he would interpret the 14th Amendment differently than had been done in the past, arguing that it “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.”

The order would mean that citizenship would not be extended to a child whose mother and father are not authorized to be in the United States at the time of birth.

[From The NY Times]

The 14th amendment gives citizenship to every child born on American soil, regardless of the immigration status/nationality of their parents. I was trying to figure out if I would be affected – my mother is American, but my father was an immigrant on a work visa when I was born (he became a citizen a few years later). I suppose it doesn’t matter – it will take some time for this issue to worm its way through the lower courts before eventually making it to the Supreme Court. And then the Supreme Court will suddenly find new and special ways to interpret the 14th amendment, I guarantee.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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65 Responses to “Donald Trump predictably moved to end birthright citizenship on his first day”

  1. HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

    Tr*mp doesn’t have the power to amend the constitution with his sharpie.

    My grandmother was an ‘anchor baby’, born in this country while her Italian parents were here for work, then moved back to Italy as a toddler. They came back to this country when she was a teenager, and may not have been able to build the life they did so quickly if my grandmother had not been a natural born citizen. Anyone not First Nations in this country, who wants to prevent birth right citizenship, is a hypocrite. Was Tr*mp’s mother a citizen by the time he was born? Because she was from Scotland.

    • Up In Toronto says:

      I think it would be good for all Americans to read their Constitution and understand what they are protecting. I’ve got to admit, my civics knowledge could be stronger, tho I am politically active and loud in protest

      The arguments are changing and the clutching of pearls and finger pointing of the left at the right bc we are shocked at what they have done NEEDS TO STOP. it’s not working and the republicans under Trump clearly are not following any shared values. THEY CANNOT BE SHAMED AND WE NEED TO STOP THINKING THEY WILL STOP IF WE SHAME THEM. Their values are just plain different

      Again, if Dems don’t offer a different vision that ppl are inspired by, we’re losing all our progress. Those ppl are using the same words now: HOPE & CHANGE

      I listened to a nytimes podcast w Marc Andreissen , . UNHINGED AND UNRELATABLE. these people are talking about things we’re not even aware of… How can we fight them if we don’t even know how to tear apart what they’ve been talking about? I feel like my head is in the sand and these are the ppl who took Trump over the finish line. They have no empathy for the regular guy, feel entitled to continue their progress, and damn it all if it disrupts society and anyone gets in their way. Americans needs to curb their tech leaders, and that’s not going to happen

      Celebitchy, can you also start covering these American creeps so that we can start articulating specific grievances with them. We have no idea what our true enemies of democracy are thinking and doing in the name of “patriotism”

      We are in a new dark age!

      • Kit says:

        Oh people know exactly what they are doing to the Constitution. Look, the MAGAs want blood in the street and their days in the master house back (even back in the good old days of slavery— the poor maga whites then remained poor and disenfranchised ready to be manipulated at will, so nothing has changed).

        But you know hope and dreams mattered to the MAGAs too. They have no problem incinerating the world to get what they think they want OR burning the whole world down with them if they don’t get what they want.

        The billionaires are more than happy to feed the mob with gore, cruelty, if that means they stay in power and rich.

        Democracy is dead in the water from the get go. It’s a DEI word. Nazi salute is in.

        These things have a cycle so there will be a correction, but the question is what will be left to scavenge from. Look at the UK. Just because the Tories are out and Labor is in, times are tough, and the mob is restless. It’s a vicious cycle. Climate change compressed the time to mitigate these horrors and in some places, too late.. The billionaires are the ultimate cynics and have bolt holes around the world ready for Armageddon *and some — their space opera fantasies.

        So Canada, watch out, these tech bros and the Project 2025 fixers want Greenland, Canada for a reason.

      • Up In Toronto says:

        Kit, you are so right, and this has all stuck, unfortunately.

        Unless the left can inspire the masses to stop what is going on or better inspire them to want a different outcome, I think the world as we knew it for the last two decades of increasing diversity and visibility for marginalized groups, of free expression, of privacy, female agency and authority, and even personally owning things will all change under this new technocracy that is riddled with White Christian Nationalism.

        I just can’t bring myself to talk about dresses or fashion, when I realize I don’t even know the names of the tech CEOs that have been upending all ofour lives and increasingly making us dependent upon their services

    • Jan90067 says:

      Did Melanoma’s “Einstein Visa” (Hello Heritage Foundation!) kick in before Baby Barron bounced in? What about Ivana’s? If not, what does that say about his first three cr*tch-spawn? Does it go further down the line, as in: if the kid doesn’t have birthrights (because their birth parent(s) didn’t have citizenship at the time, do *their* kids have it if born here? If not, where does it end?

      • Nanny to the Rescue says:

        As Trump’s order stands now, it doesn’t affect the children if the father was a lawful citizen, even if the mother wasn’t, so none of his children are within the reach of this order. He covered his ass alright.

    • nutella toast says:

      To be clear, no blonde, blue-eyed babies and their parents from Norway who overstayed visas are getting rounded up and sent home…I think we all know that. This is just permission to destroy “undesirables”. Signed, daughter of a Latina immigrant

  2. MY3CENTS says:

    That dress is like the signatures on the checks she cashed to be there.

  3. HeatherC says:

    I liked Usha’s dress…..for a different event.

    Melania has always come off as tacky. Always. This wasn’t a surprise.

    I’m not surprised at what Trump is doing. He told us who he was and still a majority voted for him. I’m just sad and angry that those that never approved of him and never voted for him will also be caught up in the FO part of FAFO. And all this finding out will disproportionately affect immigrants, people of color and women (wait till my fellow white women realize that we, too, are screwed!).

    • HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

      As a fellow white woman, I can say I already realize it, since Roe was overturned. My daughter is not growing up in this country with the same rights I had.

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      It must be noted that a majority did not vote for him. He received less than fifty percent of the popular vote. When non-voters are factored in, he only received about a third of the potential votes. Let’s not give him more power than he has. It was no landslide and he has no mandate unless we give it to him by our actions from here on.

      • Mel says:

        This!!! He did this the last time, behaved as if he won some mandate instead of realizing he’s only their because of voter laziness. The people have to start checking them, ALL of them.

      • Otterton says:

        I agree but unfortunately he does have a mandate by virtue of Republicans controlling the house and the Senate, and the supreme Court because of all of his appointments. Everyone talks about fighting but what is there to fight? Yeah this will go to court so it might get delayed, but the SC will do what it’s always done and give him what he wants. We’re so fucking screwed. Fighting is a great idea but right what, and how? Local action is probably the only way forward.

  4. Andy Dufresne says:

    Legit question: what is Melania’s nationality/ citizenship? And how does that affect Baron?

    • Nanea says:

      The story is she was on a tourist visa, but worked as a model. She overstayed, and someone made sure she got that Einstein visa…

    • blueberry says:

      This EO wouldn’t apply to him as it’s for people who will be born after 30 days from yesterday. They aren’t pushing anything retroactive (yet) but because Baron’s father was a US citizen, he’d be in the clear.

  5. Aradia says:

    You can’t ammend the constitution by executive order. 🙄

    • pottymouth pup says:

      no, but the Roberts court is the one interpreting constitutionality and if there is a lawsuit that is appealed up to SCOTUS it’s clear the conservatives on the court will issue a ruling that interprets the constitution the way the right wingers want them too. I fully expect the 1st amendment to be reinterpreted as meaning that freedom of religion was meant for Christians and to keep the government out of [Christian] church business while allowing Christian doctrine to be imposed on the public via legislation and government policies

    • wendy says:

      This. Nor can you change the name of a body of water on a map — several of his ‘orders’ yesterday were pure showmanship to pander to the base of rabid MAGAts and most won’t stand up to challenges in the courts.

      • BeanieBean says:

        They still made me sick at heart when I read them yesterday. It just all saddened me & I went to bed all depressed. How hateful people can be. How hateful those in power are. I’d like to go back to bed, but I’ve got to go into the office today. As a federal employee, we were told our union is strong & our telework policies extended to four years in anticipation, but we’ll see. And actually, that’s small potatoes for me. But for others, with kids & other responsibilities? They really hate all of us.

  6. Nanea says:

    Kaiser, your mom was a citizen at the time of your birth.

    I think it’s aimed at anchor babies, whose parents are on tourist visas (all those rich Russian women giving birth in FL), and all the many, many people who are refugees for whatever reason — be it political or economical.

    Or those the Rethugs deem illegal, the (seasonal) workers from e.g. south of the border.

    • SarahCS says:

      My assumption is anyone ‘not like us’ (rich/white). I think it’s going to be quite a loose definition depending on who they want to target.

    • pottymouth pup says:

      to be clear, it’s currently aimed at anchor babies from undocumented immigrants that doesn’t mean that Trump won’t eventually use it against any immigrant/minority population to denaturalize them (or even eventually strip “undesirables” of their citizenship)

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      If this order was retroactive (and constitutional), it would apply to Kamala Harris who is a birthright citizen. Both of her parents were non-citizens here on student visas at the time of her birth.

      • pottymouth pup says:

        @Brassy Rebel – this is accurate. People think this only applies to undocumented immigrants but it specifically mentions children born here to anyone here legally who is not a permanent resident of the US

    • Oleko says:

      @Nanea
      well, if the quoted article is accurate, no, it won’t affect rich people who come here to have babies because they come here on valid visas and are therefore “authorized” to be here. It would only affect those who were here illegally. Unless, of course, they are rich or sleeping with rich Americans.

      • blueberry says:

        This is actually written to include people who are here on nonimmigrant, temporary visas. This includes international students, tourists, and people on work visas.

    • Ciotog says:

      If they can take it away for one group of people they can take it away from anyone.

  7. E.A says:

    As someone who’s not American I’m always surprised by birth right citizenship , I neither agree or disagree. I understand America history how it was created so birth right makes sense, but in modern day, its obvious its clearly abused. Even as a child of immigrant I can see why people get upset by it, but I also feel sorry for people wanting a better life for their family.

    • Is that so? says:

      What was the intent of birthright citizenship, and how is it being abused?

      • E.A says:

        Honestly I don’t know I just assumed how America was formed the idea everyone can be American land of the free all of that nonsense e.t.c. I think its abused just because im aware people give birth get citizenship for their kids and move back home to actually raise them. This happens as a child of immigrates I know this for a fact, I don’t blame them, you want the best option for your child. I just don’t know how they will get about this law

      • Is that so? says:

        Birthright citizenship is a new world/Americas phenomenon. Its intent throughout the Americas was to attract Europeans to populate stolen and colonize lands. There was a period in the history of the United States, when birthright citizenship sweetened with the promise of free land.

  8. Is That So? says:

    Birthright citizenship is a white supremacy strategy to encourage Europeans to immigrate to lands stolen through imperialism and colonialism.

    When historical exploited non-Europeans begin using programs meant to spread or support white supremacy, the heirs of colonialism move to shut these programs down.

    https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-with-birthright-citizenship

    • Brassy Rebel says:

      The 14th amendment was an important step in reconstruction following the Civil War as it granted citizenship to all freed slaves born in the US.

    • Is that so? says:

      Native populations of the Americas are the only people with a legitimate say on birthright citizenship in the region. Unfortunately, it is several centuries, too late for them to exercise it effectively.

      The 14th amendment passed in 1866. Native Americans were made citizens of the United States in 1924.

      Needless to say this move, in my opinion, is another way of moving back in time and upholding white supremacy. The new administration is moving us backward towards imperialism/colonialism. Their ambition towards Greenland would be amusing satire, we’re it not so scary.

      https://narf.org/the-indian-citizenship-act-at-100-years-old/#:~:text=One%20hundred%20years%20ago%2C%20on,as%20the%20Indian%20Citizenship%20Act.

      • Becks1 says:

        I think a good starting point for all of us is to understand that everything this administration is going to do is going to be about moving back in time, upholding white supremacy, and moving us backward towards imperialism/colonialism (all things you said obviously.)

        I think so many are shocked that he is “actually” doing these things but the crux of the matter is that is not that shocking if we considering that to be the end goal – white supremacy, imperialism, colonialism.

      • Becks1 says:

        if we “are” considering that good lord, my typos today lol.

    • blueberry says:

      🎯

  9. HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

    The hypocrisy of Christian nationalists: Jesus was an anchor baby. His parents were from Nazareth in Galilee, but they traveled to Bethlehem in Judea just for his birth, because of Old Testament prophesy.

  10. og bella says:

    On my mother’s side, I am 1st gen.

    On my father’s side? My ancestors have been here since the 1500s. Even if you came here on the Mayflower, I got ya by 100 years.

    I still had a white, drunk Karen screaming at me yesterday that me and my whole family are about to get kicked out because its T#?!MP’s America now. Tried to run me down. Insanity.

    And this was day 1. strap up folks, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

  11. NotTheOne says:

    The order requiring federal workers to return to the office is such a copycat idea from big tech. They use it as a way to “cull the herd” so to speak – layoffs without calling them layoffs. I work with a federal agency that sold it’s office building two years ago – they literally don’t have an office to go back to.

    • Becks1 says:

      As a fed, this order devastates me and terrifies me. I cannot lose my job, I’m not eligible for early retirement or any of that. So I’m stuck here. I need the health insurance and our life is built around the work-life balance and the retirement benefits.

      If I have to go in 5 days a week (something I haven’t had to do since 2011; these Rs act like telework just started in 2020 but its been around at most agencies for decades now) it will suck and i’ll hate it mainly bc its pointless (we’re much more productive at home, my work is production based so there is evidence to support this.) but, at least I’ll have a job, which I’m SURE is how they want us to feel. that’s the devastating part. It will absolutely destroy morale.

      but he’s rolling back protections for federal employees again like he did in 2017 and that’s the terrifying part.

      I forgot what it is like to work for someone who hates all of us and thinks we have no value. It’s absolutely devastating and demoralizing and its been less than 24 hours.

      the only thing that brings me a glimmer of my joy is that my agency is extremely public facing (not my particular role, at all) so if they bring us all back and production goes down……LOL sorrynotsorry when your constituents complain.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Yeah, they WANT us to quit or retire early. I can’t do that, either. And if they follow through on ending Medicare & Social Security, then what? We were told at work our union is strong & that our telework policies have been doubled to four years to ‘get us through’ this, but…. We’ll see. Heartsick going in to work today.

  12. ThatGirlThere says:

    Those are two of the ugliest 1st and 2nd couples I have ever seen.

    That orange turd sat at his tiny desk before his Nazi crowd at his Klan rally signing these clown orders as if he was on some game show. This is truly the dumbest time of our country.

  13. Lightpurple says:

    Has that imbecile never seen a birth certificate?

    Four of his five children were anchor babies

    My long form birth certificate does not list the nationality of either parent. It has their address at the timeof birth, their birth dates, occupations, the hospital name, and the doctor. It’s a municipal document, not issued by any federal agency.

  14. Nerd says:

    I couldn’t get past any of the photos without laughing. Plump looks bad in everything he wears but he looks especially bad and awkward in tuxedos. Melania looks like a toddler found Trump’s old trusty presidential Sharpie and started trying to write their name in a fashion magazine. Vance looks like he’s about to do a plié and his wife’s dress is just… No.

    Everything else is as expected. The people he surrounds himself with have always been questionable and awful people so him doing this to those who voted against their own interests is on them. They will see the consequences of voting for someone who showed you he didn’t care about anyone else the first time.

  15. Annie says:

    Republicans offer a vision that people
    Approve of and then dems run on: ‘look how awful it was’ without a vision and then lose because its the same old bs.

    • Becks1 says:

      It’s incredibly depressing that this is a vision that Americans approve of.

      but more to the point, no, people don’t approve of it. More people stayed home than voted for him.

      • BlueToile says:

        Silence is complicity. Those who didn’t bother to vote approve of Trump enough to not care if he was reelected. They can rot, as far as I am concerned.

  16. JanetDR says:

    He must have someone doing his make-up, both hair and face are less orange.

  17. AA says:

    That pink dress with the brown suede boots that Usha had on during the inauguration was awful and the dress didn’t fit right. Melania looked ridiculous in that hat, and I thought Ivanka looked stupid in her hat, too. I thought their “ball gowns” were marginally fine.

  18. Purplehazeforever says:

    The fact that I have to state the obvious here, kinda scares me that people don’t know how the Constitution works. .. executive orders cannot repeal Constitutional amendments or interpret them no matter who sits on the bench. There’s a process for that & it’s called state governments.

  19. Purplehazeforever says:

    True but there’s a process to repealing an amendment.

  20. CLOVE says:

    How about his kids? This is going to be a s**t-show for 4 years. It takes a 2/3 majority to change the Constitution: it’s not going to pass.

  21. GlammaGeeGee says:

    Are we supposed to keep ignoring his leg brace as dementia ravages his mind and body?

  22. Flamingo says:

    18 states have already moved to block it. This is just showboating by Trump to make the MAGAs happy. They don’t care about the fine print. Just the headlines.

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