Nearly 30 percent of Americans signaled support for ending birthright citizenship, while a slim majority said the opposite, according to a new survey.
The NPR/Ipsos poll, published Thursday, found that 28 percent of adults support ending birthright citizenship — the 14th Amendment principle that says anyone born within the U.S. and subject to its laws has guaranteed citizenship. On the other side, 53 percent said they oppose ending it, relatively unchanged since February, and 17 percent said they did not know.
The results come as President Trump has targeted the principle amid his crackdown on illegal immigration. On his first day back in office, the president penned an executive order that would restrict birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents. The action has been challenged in court in multiple jurisdictions.
The support for ending birthright citizenship has dropped among Republicans, the survey showed. About 48 percent support ending birthright citizenship, 8 points lower compared to February, when the figure stood at 56 percent.
The majority of Democrats, 79 percent, oppose limits on the Constitutional principle, while only 11 percent showed support, according to the poll.
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Thursday morning regarding nationwide injunctions before ruling if lower courts can bring challenges to Trump’s legal policies, including his executive actions on birthright citizenship.
“Big case today in the United States Supreme Court. Birthright Citizenship was not meant for people taking vacations to become permanent Citizens of the United States of America, and bringing their families with them, all the time laughing at the ‘SUCKERS’ that we are,” Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social.
“We are, for the sake of being politically correct, a STUPID Country but, in actuality, this is the exact opposite of being politically correct, and it is yet another point that leads to the dysfunction of America,” he added.
The latest survey also found that 46 percent of U.S. adults support giving legal status to migrants that were brought to the U.S. as kids. Just under 30 percent said they oppose the measure, down 8 points from February.
Nearly half of Americans, 48 percent, support swiftly deporting alleged gang members under the 18th century Alien Enemies Act — a move by the Trump administration that has also drawn scrutiny and legal action. About a third, 31 percent, oppose it, while 18 percent said they did not know, the poll found.
Around 35 percent of respondents said the immigration restrictions imposed by the president in recent weeks are going too far. Another 28 percent said they are about right while 12 percent said they do not go far enough. Some 23 percent were unsure, according to the survey.
The NPR/Ipsos poll was conducted from May 9-11 among 1,019 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
