Nikki Haley Says Children of Undocumented Immigrants Should be Denied Birthright Citizenship

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Sunday that children of undocumented immigrants should not be entitled to citizenship if born within the country.

"For the 5 million people who've entered our country illegally, I am against birthright citizenship," Haley said on Fox News Sunday. "For those that are in this country legally, of course, I think we go according to the Constitution, and that's fine."

The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says that "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."

A constitutional amendment would be needed to implement Haley's suggestion of denying citizenship to children of undocumented migrants and requires action from a supermajority of Congress and state legislatures.

Such an amendment is unlikely, but Haley nonetheless proposed the birthright citizenship ban as a potential deterrent for illegal immigration.

"It's the illegal immigration that we have to make sure that just because they get here if they have a child, you're just building on the problems … if you're making those children's citizens and then allowing them to stay because of that," she said.