President Donald Trump is not known for his empathy, tact, or sense of decency. But even by his standards, the timing of his announcement that he plans to unilaterally undo constitutional protections for birthright citizenship was breathtaking.
On October 29, Trump told a reporter that he plans to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to non-citizens. He said this just two days after an anti-Semitic man murdered 11 American Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue. Some of those who were murdered had not yet been buried when Trump made a statement that warms the hearts of white supremacists and white nationalists who see birthright citizenship as polluting their fevered dream of a “racially pure” country.
Two days later, on Halloween, Trump said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros, a Jewish refugee who survived the Nazi occupation in Hungary, is funding the so-called “caravan” of people reportedly heading to the U.S. border from Central America to seek asylum. There is, of course, absolutely zero evidence to support Trump’s claim. With this lie, Trump helped spread just the kind of conspiracy theory that motivated the killer to carry out a massacre in Pittsburgh.
Trump may never actually issue the promised executive order. If he does, it would be an illegitimate attempt to amend the Constitution by executive fiat. As George Conway (Kellyanne’s husband) observed in a Washington Post op-ed co-authored with former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, an 1898 Supreme Court decision affirmed the intention of the 14th Amendment’s architects, ruling that children born in the United States are U.S. citizens, with just two exceptions: (1) children of foreign diplomats and (2) children of foreign enemies in “hostile occupation”.
Trump’s executive order would be a unilateral effort to get around the constitutional amendment process. Republicans who (not without at least some plausible legal basis) criticized former President Barack Obama’s unilateral actions in the area of immigration ought to be horrified by Trump’s proposal: Obama’s action involved questions of statutory interpretation, while Trump claims authority to set aside the United States Constitution at his discretion. It is possible (though by no means guaranteed) that this would be a bridge too far even for Trump’s Republican supporters in Congress. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan flatly stated that “you cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order.”
Would-be authoritarians try to change the rules of the system in order to consolidate power
Whether or not Trump ever goes ahead with his plan, he has, as commentator Carrie Cordero observes, “demonstrate[d] his disregard for our constitutional system of government and his disregard for the oath he took”. As Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt write in How Democracies Die, would-be authoritarians try to change the rules of the system in order to consolidate power. Trump’s proposal indicates his willingness to do just that.
It seems possible, however, that Trump’s words are aimed more at the upcoming midterm elections than at any real effort to make an end run around constitutional process. This should also be taken seriously. As I wrote last week, Trump’s strategy for the midterms is to use fear as a tactic designed to energize his base of support.
The proposal regarding birthright citizenship and the suggestion that Soros’s money is bringing non-white “invaders” to U.S. borders are music to the ears of white supremacists and anti-Semites. It does not matter whether Trump himself is personally racist or anti-Semitic (I am sure he wishes no will toward his Jewish daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren). What matters is that he speaks their language — the language of bigots — and feeds their dangerous, sometimes violent conspiracy theories.
Trump is playing a dangerous and cynical game. He has demonstrated that he is willing to set aside ordinary standards of decency and prudence by making a pre-election appeal that plays to some of the most sinister demons in American psyches. It all feels surreal: a U.S. president is seeking to energize white supremacists and anti-Semites by giving voice to a conspiracy theory that, just days ago, moved a killer to act. But this is indeed our reality. In the upcoming election, we will find out whether Trump’s strategy can work, or whether he has, at long last, gone too far. It is up to us to make that decision.
Chris Edelson is an assistant professor of government in American University’s School of Public Affairs. His book, “ Power Without Constraint: The Post 9/11 Presidency and National Security ,” was published in 2016 by the University of Wisconsin Press.
More: What Trump’s proposed birthright citizenship order could do to the children of immigrants
Also: How immigration actually helps native-born U.S. workers
