Tim Scott questions constitutionality of 2024 opponents’ promises to end birthright citizenship

Presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) questioned promises by primary rivals to end birthright citizenship, saying it may not be constitutional.

Both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have pledged to end the practice.

“I think the Congress would have to act. The president cannot do that by himself or herself outright,” Scott said in a CBS interview Friday.

Scott said his opponents may be making promises they legally are not able to keep.

“Yeah, I don’t know how you do that without addressing the constitutional challenges,” he said.

Birthright citizenship guarantees that any person born on U.S. soil, no matter the citizenship of their parents, automatically becomes a U.S. citizen.

That right is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”