Making immigration the Trump card

SAY you are a pregnant woman on a flight from Buenos Aires to Manila with a stopover in New York City, and that after landing in JFK Airport you are rushed to the hospital where you give birth to a healthy child. Congratulations!

And FYI: Your kid who was born on American soil would be able to apply for US citizenship and eventually even invite you and the other members of the family to live in the United States and to also become American citizens.

Indeed, it is a policy called birthright citizenship, which allows you to become a citizen of the US simply by virtue of being born there, even if your parents are not citizens. The practice is based on a provision codified in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which declares: "All persons born ... in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."