Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy says he supports President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship.
“I agree with the president,” Cassidy tells the USA Today Network. “We can’t continue to have birthright tourism, people coming to America to give birth so their babies can be citizens. That’s gaming the American system.”
Cassidy was in northeastern Louisiana today to headline an economic development conference at Louisiana Delta Community College and a Monroe Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Many, including Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, have said the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship.
But the president has said he believes he can end birthright citizenship with an executive order or congressional action rather than amending the Constitution.
“I think it will be difficult to do (with an executive order), but the president has began the argument and he’s getting support from some legal scholars,” Cassidy says.
On mid-term elections, Cassidy says he thinks Republicans will hold the Senate, but it will be 50-50 in the House.
Louisiana’s senior senator says the outcome in the House depends on whether voters allow their dislike of the president to outweigh the economic prosperity Cassidy believe Trump and Congress have orchestrated.
Cassidy also says he supports Amendment No. 2, which would change Louisiana’s Constitution to require unanimous jury verdicts for felony convictions.
