Nigerians living overseas have vehemently opposed President Donald Trump‘s plan to abolish birthright citizenship in the US, calling it unlawful.
Regardless of the immigration status of their parents, anyone born in the United States is automatically granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Attempts to take away this right have been denounced by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which claims they are unlawful and go against core American principles.
Nigeria has quite different regulations regarding nationality because citizenship is mainly obtained by descent rather than birth.
They maintained that the Supreme Court and US courts will ultimately determine whether or not Trump’s action was lawful.
Recall that along with numerous other decrees intended to undo the President Biden-policy era, President Trump signed an executive order on Monday upon taking office that sought to abolish citizenship by birth.
According to the Executive Order, children born to parents who are temporarily or illegally in the country will no longer get documentation recognising their U.S. citizenship. The order states that infants born in the United States will be covered after 30 days from the order date.
In an attempt to halt its implementation, 22 Democratic states and a few human rights organisations have filed lawsuits in response to the order.