The United States has long held to the principle of birthright citizenship, which holds that any child born on U.S. soil, regardless of parentage, is a U.S. citizen. The problem of illegal immigration has caused some to question the principle — most notably, President Donald Trump, who has actually called for its abandonment because, he says, it is costly and unfair.
As fundamental as it has been to American-citizenship policy, the principle of birthright citizenship has come under attack on previous occasions when matters of race were involved, writes Carol Nackenoff of The Conversation. It was never not a contentious issue.
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