Donald Trump says he would end birthright citizenship on first day in office

May 30 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that, should he be re-elected to the White House in 2024, he would remove birthright citizenship on his first day in office.

The announcement comes on the 125th anniversary of the the Supreme Court case that established the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.

"As part of my plan to secure the border, on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship," Trump said in a statement.

He previously floated the idea in 2018 when he was president.

"It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment. Guess what? You don't," Trump told Axios. "You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they're saying I can do it just with an executive order."

According to The Hill, most legal experts agree that Trump does not have the authority to do so, because the 14 Amendment grants citizenship to those "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

A majority of countries in the Americas have full birthright citizenship as do several nations in Western Europe.