President-elect Donald Trump shared his thoughts on the country’s immigration system over the weekend, answering questions about deportations, birthright citizenship, and Dreamers.
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Trump spoke about the topic during a sit down with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” saying that he would look to end birthright citizenship as a means to stop those with undocumented parents who have their child in the US from having citizenship.
“We have to end it,” Trump said, adding that it’s “ridiculous.”
That right has long been protected under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Trump said he would look to remove it via executive action.
Trump also noted that the US stands alone in offering birthright citizenship, saying, “We’re the only country that has it, you know.”
However, the Library of Congress reports that over 30 nations provide birthright citizenship.
Much like he did during his campaign, Trump also said that there needs to be a mass deportation of those who have entered the country illegally. He said that he plans on starting with those committing crimes and then moving on to others.
“I think you have to do it,” Trump said. “It’s a very tough thing to do. It’s — but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws. They came in illegally. You know, the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been on the line for 10 years to come into the country.”
“We have to get the criminals out of our country,” Trump added.
He went on to say that they are “starting with the criminals, and we got to do it. And then we’re starting with others, and we’re going to see how it goes.”
Trump was also asked about breaking up families that have mixed immigration status, to which he responded that he doesn’t want to break up families.
“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” Trump said. “So the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together, and you have to send them all back.”
When it comes to Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children nearly 20 or more years ago and are covered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, Trump said he doesn’t want to see them go.
“We have to do something about the Dreamers because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now. They don’t even speak the language of their country,” Trump said, before adding that he would “work with the Democrats on a plan.”
“They were brought into this country many years ago,” he continued. “Some of them are no longer young people, and in many cases, they’ve become successful. They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses. Some cases, they might have large businesses, and we’re going to have to do something with them.”
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