As Trump tries to end birthright citizenship, what do Americans think? What poll found

In the hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump issued a deluge of executive orders — one of which seeks to end birthright citizenship in the U.S.

The order instructs federal agencies not to issue citizenship documents, such as passports, to people born in the U.S. to mothers who are unlawful residents or temporary visa holders, if the father is not a permanent resident or citizen.

Scheduled to take effect in 30 days, the order has already faced legal challenges due to its apparent conflict with the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

In addition to being legally dubious, the proposed policy is broadly unpopular, according to new polling.

Unpopular policy

In the latest AP-NORC poll, a slim majority of respondents, 51%, said they strongly or somewhat oppose “changing the Constitution so children born in the U.S. are not automatically granted citizenship if their parents are here illegally.”

In contrast, 28% said they strongly or somewhat favor ending birthright citizenship, and 20% said they didn’t lean one way or the other.

The issue of whether or not to end automatic citizenship for those born in the U.S. — which Trump vowed to do during his first term — divided respondents along partisan lines.

The majority of Republicans, 53%, said they favored ending the policy, while the vast majority of Democrats, 73%, opposed eliminating it.

Independents were more split, with 46% against ending birthright citizenship, 23% in favor of ending it and 30% not leaning one way or the other.

Conducted between Jan. 9 and 13, the poll sampled 1,147 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.

Legally dubious

Just hours after Trump issued the executive order, attorneys general from 18 states — including California, North Carolina and Vermont — filed suit in federal court to block the order, according to the Associated Press.

They argued that the order violates the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states: “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.”

“The president cannot, with a stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence, period,” New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said, according to the outlet.

Legal experts previously contacted by McClatchy News were in agreement, saying that Trump could not unilaterally eliminate birthright citizenship.

“Ending birthright citizenship would require an amendment to the text of the U.S. Constitution, specifically to the 14th Amendment,” said Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Trump, however, contended that the order does not conflict with the Constitution at all.

“The Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” the order said.

This story was originally published January 21, 2025 at 10:36 AM with the headline "As Trump tries to end birthright citizenship, what do Americans think? What poll found."