(Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin said on Sunday he believes babies born in the U.S. should be illegally deported from parents among immigrants living in the country if an adult is deported.
Mullin’s comment on NBC’s “Meet the Press” is answering a question Friday’s question about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that restricts pathways to limit birthright citizenship for President Donald Trump’s executive order so that it will soon take effect in some states.
The court’s ruling did not address the legitimacy of the Trump order, which would subvert the historical practice of granting U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the country, regardless of the immigrant status of their parents.
NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Mullin what to do if a baby born in the United States was deported because the child was a U.S. citizen under current laws.
“Well, they should go where their parents are,” said Mullin of Oklahoma. “Why don’t you send kids with their parents? I mean, why are you going to separate them?”
Friday’s court decision sparked confusion among immigrants and advocates, scrambling to understand the actual impact if birthright citizenship applies to babies born in certain states but not suitable for birth in others.
(Report by Joseph Ax; Edited by Scott Malone and Mark Porter)
