Both former President Donald Trump and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis have pledged to unilaterally end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

President Joe Biden has come out against the idea and he isn't the only one to do so, as this week a Republican candidate also voiced opposition.  

"The president cannot do that by himself or herself"

According to CBS News, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott addressed the issue on Friday following a roundtable with community leaders in Yuma, Arizona.

When asked whether he thought Trump and DeSantis are promising something that they won't be able to deliver on, Scott responded affirmatively.

"Yeah, I don't know how you do that without addressing the constitutional challenges," the 2024 Republican presidential hopeful was quoted as saying.

"I think the Congress would have to act. The president cannot do that by himself or herself outright," Scott went on to add.

Controversy surrounding the 14th Amendment

In addition to Trump and DeSantis, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has also called for an end to birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

"I think for a period it’s going to be necessary in this country, because you have an influx of migrants across that southern border, fourteen thousand-plus a day by some estimates crossing that southern border. That is not a rule of law, that is the abandonment of the rule of law," Fox News quoted him as telling CNN last month.

"So if migrants are coming illegally, intentionally to be able to establish an illegal toehold in the United States, then I think that’s something we should not abide in this country," Ramaswamy stressed.

However, many critics argue that any attempt to end birthright citizenship for those born to illegal immigrants would require a constitutional amendment.

They pointed to Section 1, Clause 1 of the 14th Amendment, which reads, "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."

Alan Dershowitz says issue is complicated

Longtime attorney and constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz is among those who contend that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

"I think if a person comes to the United States as a tourist or in order to have a baby, has the baby here in the United States then leaves and goes to another country, I don’t believe that they are constitutionally entitled to citizenship, because they’ve never been under the jurisdiction of the United States," Dershowitz said in 2018.

"But, if you’re born to an illegal alien and you’ve lived in this country, 10, 15, 20 years, you pay taxes and you’ve been subject to the laws of the country, very hard not to conclude that you are a citizen under the constitution," he insisted.