What is birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which Donald Trump has vowed to end?
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President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders in the first Oval Office appearance of his second term, including one addressing the definition of birthright citizenship. He had pledged to review the policy, which gives citizenship to anyone born in the US in his election campaign.
Details of Monday’s order are unclear but it is believed any efforts to halt the policy would face significant hurdles. Birthright citizenship rights are included in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and would be extremely difficult to overturn.
Birthright citizenship, known legally as "jus soli", is Latin for "right of the soil". The policy, passed in 1868 to grant citizenship to former slaves, is part of the 14th Amendment and guarantees that all children born in the USA are citizens of the United States.
It applies to children born in the country illegally or in the US on a tourist or student visa who plans to return to their home country. Mr Trump has argued there should be tougher standards for gaining citizenship and has expressed concern over what he considers an incentive for people to arrive in the US illegally or to take part in “birth tourism”, which refers to pregnant women entering the US specifically to give birth so their children can have citizenship.
