Cruz on Birthright Citizenship: The First Priority Should Be Securing the Border

‘I’ve publicly said we should end birth-right citizenship’

DICKERSON: “In 2011, you mentioned that basically -- there's quote here -- you said: ‘14th Amendment provides for birthright citizenship. I have looked at the legal arguments against it. And I will tell you, as a Supreme Court litigator, those arguments are not very good.’ So, as a legal matter, though, it can't be touched, right?”

CRUZ: “Well, no, that's not true. So, there are two different pieces. There's the policy matter and the legal matter. As a policy matter, I think now, and I thought then, we should end birthright citizenship. And in 2011, in that same conversation, I publicly said we should end birthright citizenship. Indeed, I said so in writing. Now, there's a second question, how does one do it? And constitutional scholars differ in terms of the way that it can be effectively done. Some constitutional scholars argue Congress could pass a law defining what the words in the 14th Amendment ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ mean. Others argue, no, it couldn't be done by statute. It must be done by constitutional amendment. In my view, there's good-faith argument on both sides. We should pursue whichever one is effective. But, as a policy matter, we should change the law. But what I also said in that interview -- and I think this is important, John -- is we're facing a crisis with the illegal immigration, a law enforcement crisis, a national security crisis. Any change in birthright citizenship, be it a statute or a constitutional amendment, will take many, many years. So, the first priority should be securing the border. And we can do that with a president, unlike President Obama, who will actually enforce the laws and get the job done.”

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