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President Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to terminate the birthright citizenship — the right to citizenship for babies of non-citizens and illegal immigrants born on U.S. ground — through executive order.

Trump offered these comments to Axios while dismissing the legal challenges that would inevitably come from trying to undercut 14th Amendment birthright citizenship.

“It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don’t,” Trump said. “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States … with all of those benefits. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”

As Axios rightly notes, Trump’s claim is incorrect: “More than 30 countries, most in the Western Hemisphere, provide birthright citizenship.”

The 14th Amendment says “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Ending birthright citizenship would a considerable escalation of Trump’s hardline approach to immigration, which comes as the president rails against “chain migration” and the migrant caravan in Central America as the midterms approach.

“You can definitely do it with an Act of Congress,” said Trump, “but now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order.”

Watch above, via Axios.

[Image via screengrab]

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