Two N.J. Republicans signal support for Trump’s birthright citizenship order

Amid the flurry of far-reaching executive orders that President Donald Trump has signed in his first two days in office, one in particular has stood out in immigrant-rich New Jersey: Trump’s order attempting to end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship for nearly all children born in the United States, regardless of the immigration status of their parents.

The order, which is already being challenged in court by New Jersey and 17 other states, declares that children born to parents here illegally (or, in some cases, parents here legally but temporarily) will no longer automatically become citizens starting on February 19; the order does not apply retroactively to children born before its issuance. And two Republican congressmen from New Jersey, Reps. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) and Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis), say that Trump is onto something.

“I think it was a good idea, what he did,” Smith said. “We have so many magnets that are empowering the cartels to bring people here. When you realize that some of these kids that are coming are coming under duress, they’re being trafficked, 300,000 unaccompanied minors have gone missing. I just can’t believe that. So we’ve got a serious problem.”

“It seems to me that what he’s saying does make some sense,” Van Drew agreed. “This doesn’t go retrospectively, it’s just going to be moving forward, so people are going to know what they’re in for in the future.”

Van Drew added that while New Jersey is a hub for many different immigrant populations, he believes that people in those communities agree with the Trump administration’s goal of combating illegal immigration, an effort to which the birthright citizenship order is key.

“Immigrants add so much to our communities, our states, and our country,” he said. “At the same time, illegal immigration is different. So we need to renew and reform the process in order that we can identify those that are illegal shouldn’t be here; those that are legal should be.”

(New Jersey’s other Republican representative, Rep. Tom Kean Jr., did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s order.)

For many Democrats and immigrant rights groups in New Jersey, on the other hand, the order is anathema to America’s principles. More importantly, they argue, it goes against the basic text of the Constitution, which holds that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

“Birthright citizenship is foundational to America and in the clear text of our Constitution,” said Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), who represents an immigrant-heavy district that Trump narrowly carried last year. “No single executive order or piece of paper can erase that.”

To that end, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin is leading an effort with 19 other Democratic attorneys general and city attorneys arguing before a federal court in Massachusetts that Trump’s order is unconstitutional. “The president cannot, with the stroke of a pen, write the 14th Amendment out of existence,” Platkin said.

The birthright citizenship order is only one of many directives Trump has issued in the last 48 hours with the potential to upend politics and lives in New Jersey. Trump has also worked to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in government, resume construction of a wall along the southern border, and pause the development of offshore wind energy, the last of which was heavily praised by both Smith and Van Drew.

“This is a victory for everyone along the New Jersey coast,” said Smith, who has joined Van Drew and other New Jersey Republicans in opposing wind turbines off the Jersey Shore for years. “On his first day in office President Trump has acted to help end our offshore wind nightmare. Meanwhile, in four years the Biden Administration failed to do anything to address the serious safety, efficacy, cost, and legal concerns of industrializing our oceans.”

Perhaps the most controversial of Trump’s decisions, though, was to issue sweeping pardons to those who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those convicted of violent crimes. Van Drew and Smith told NJ Spotlight News before Trump’s inauguration that they were supportive of pardoning nonviolent offenders, though both said they would want some violent offenders to remain jailed; many Democrats, meanwhile, vehemently objected to the pardons as a whole, saying that they whitewash a dark day in American history.

“These pardons undermine the rule of law and betray the brave law enforcement officers who risked their lives defending the Capitol on January 6,” Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) said. “It is even more disturbing that the president pardoned violent offenders – like Julian Khater, the individual who assaulted U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, a New Jersey native, and pled guilty to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon.” (Sicknick died the day after the attack.)