Will Barron’s citizenship status get affected by Donald Trump’s ‘denaturalisation plan’? Fact-checking the viral claim

A Facebook post, shared on November 16, claimed that Donald Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship would negatively affect his youngest son, Barron Trump. “BTW, according to Trump’s own denaturalization plan, Barron Trump should have to be deported. He was born 3 months before his mother became a US citizen which means he’s not a citizen and has to go. That’s according to Trump’s policies,” the post read.

Versions of the claim were shared across social media thousands of times.

But is the claim true? USA Today fact-checked the claim and declared that it is false.

Fact-checking the viral claim

Barron is a US citizen, and his father’s proposal would not affect that. The president-elect’s proposal would cover only future births and would not apply to children who were born in the country to at least one parent who is already a citizen or lawful permanent resident. When Barron was born, both Trump and Melania met that requirement.

The 14th Amendment has granted US citizenship to anyone born in the country for more than 150 years. Meanwhile, Trump’s Agenda 47 policy platform states the clause has been “misinterpreted” and that US citizenship extends only to those both born in and “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. According to the president-elect, this would mean that children born in the US to parents who are living in the country illegally are not US citizens. However, even if such a proposal is enacted, it would not affect or change Barron’s citizenship status.

Trump has reportedly said that on the first day of his second presidential term, he would address birthright citizenship with an executive order. However, he did mention that the policy would not be retroactive, and will apply to children born after it takes effect. For a kid to automatically become a citizen, it would also require at least one parent to be a citizen or lawful permanent resident, also referred to as a green card holder.

However, neither of these conditions will affect Barron, who was born on March 20, 2006, in New York. His father was and remains a natural born citizen. At the time of Barron’s birth, his mother Melania was a lawful permanent resident too. She received a green card in 2001 through the EB-1 program, also known as the Einstein visa.