A Facebook post made a claim suggesting that Donald Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship would impact his youngest son, Barron Trump on November 16. The post argued that Barron should be deported because he was born three months before his mother, Melania Trump, became a U.S. citizen, implying he was not a citizen under Trump’s denaturalization plan. The post stated, “BTW, according to Trump’s own denaturalization plan, Barron Trump should have to be deported. He was born 3 months before his mother became a US citizen which means he’s not a citizen and has to go. That’s according to Trump’s policies.”
This claim is false. USA Today fact-checked the post and clarified that Barron Trump is, in fact, a U.S. citizen, and Donald Trump’s proposed policies would not affect his citizenship status. The proposal Trump put forward would apply only to future births, not those of children born in the U.S. to parents who are already U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. At the time of Barron’s birth, both Donald Trump and Melania Trump fulfilled these requirements.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has granted citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. for more than 150 years. However, Trump’s Agenda 47 policy platform claims that this clause has been “misinterpreted” and asserts that U.S. citizenship should apply only to those born in the country and “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. According to Trump, this would mean that children born in the U.S. to parents living illegally in the country would not be granted citizenship. Despite this proposal, it would not impact Barron Trump’s citizenship.
Trump has indicated that on the first day of his second presidential term, he would issue an executive order to address birthright citizenship. However, he has made it clear that the policy would not be retroactive and would apply only to children born after the rule takes effect. For a child to automatically acquire U.S. citizenship, at least one parent must be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident (green card holder).
Barron, who was born on March 20, 2006, in New York, is not affected by any proposed changes. His father, Donald Trump, has been a natural-born U.S. citizen, and Melania Trump, his mother, was a lawful permanent resident at the time of his birth. Melania received her green card in 2001 through the EB-1 program, often referred to as the “Einstein visa.”
Therefore, Barron Trump’s citizenship remains secure, and any future changes to birthright citizenship would not alter his status.
