Republican Presidential Candidate Tim Scott Admits that President Cannot End Birthright Citizenship by Fiat

CBS News reports that. on the campaign trial for the Republican nomination for President, Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) questioned the legality of campaign promises by former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

Asked whether he would join Trump and DeSantis in pledging to revoke birthright citizenship through an executive action if elected president, Scott said that he does not believe presidents can do so unilaterally.  Scott’s position is consistent with more than a century of recognition of birthright citizenship by the U.S. Supreme Court and the position of a vast majority of legal scholars (with President Trump’s attorney on January 6 John Eastman an outlier).

KJ