*By Conor White* Donald Trump may be looking to score points with his base ahead of midterm elections by turning the conversation back to immigration. With one week to go before Election Day, Trump proposed ending birthright immigration with an executive order during an interview for "Axios on HBO" [released Tuesday morning](https://www.axios.com/trump-birthright-citizenship-executive-order-0cf4285a-16c6-48f2-a933-bd71fd72ea82.html). "It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," the president claimed in the video. Birthright citizenship is protected under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and any effort to end it would come under immediate legal challenge. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan broke with Trump to make a firm statement against his proposal shortly after the interview was released. "You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order," he said in an interview with Kentucky radio station WVLK. Trump's birthright proposal came one day after the Pentagon said it would send more than 5,000 U.S. troops to the southern border to prepare for what Trump has called an "invasion" of asylum-seeking migrants slowly making their way through Mexico. Some observers see the focus on immigration as politically-motivated. "One gets the sense that he hasn't thought through the details very strongly," David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic, said about Trump's birthright proposal in an interview Tuesday on Cheddar. "What he's really concerned with is the rhetoric and how it plays politically." "He's remembering 2016 and seeing the magic he got talking about immigration," Graham continued, "Hoping he can recreate that and pull a win out." However, Shannon Vavra, a political reporter at Axios, noted that Trump has long railed against so-called "anchor babies" and other longstanding immigration policies such a "chain migration," which refers to immigrants sponsoring family members to come to the U.S. She said the timing may just be Trump being Trump. "The timing of it is definitely questionable at this point," she said, "but President Trump tends to do what he wants to do." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/trump-says-hell-end-birthright-citizenship).

Share:
More In Politics
U.S. Jobless Claims Unchanged at 205,000
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year.
Biden Pivots to Home Tests to Confront Omicron Surge
President Joe Biden plans to deliver 500 million free COVID-19 tests to Americans, increase support for hospitals and expand the availability of vaccines to confront a winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant.
G7 Warns Russia of 'Massive Consequences' for Continued Ukraine Aggression
Former deputy assistant U.S. Secretary of State Joel Rubin joined Cheddar to break down the latest dispute between G7 nations and Russia as its increased military buildup along the Ukrainian border drew stern warnings of "massive consequences" should an invasion occur. "If Putin wants to keep on going further, there will be many tools that the financial system can use against him, and the United States, now, is gathering our allies in a way that is really unprecedented," he said.
Airline CEOS Grilled Over Bailout Funds
Airline executives faced tough questions from Congress on Wednesday, with the Senate panel grilling top CEOs on how they used that $54 billion Covid-19 government lifeline. This hearing comes as airlines continue to face staffing shortages and widespread delays. Jason Ader, Leisure Analyst and CEO of SpringOwl Asset Management joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Load More