Ohio Gov. John Kasich labeled the debate among Republicans over birthright citizenship a “stumbling block” Wednesday and asserted firmly that anyone born in the United States should automatically be a citizen.
“This has been a long tradition in America. Let’s keep it as it is, and let’s move beyond it,” he told reporters after appearing at the Education Summit in Londonderry, New Hampshire.
Kasich’s comments came after presidential rival Donald Trump proposed in his immigration plan to revoke the granting of citizenship to people born inside U.S. borders.
While Kasich once supported the idea as a congressman, he now says it’s a law that’s guaranteed by the Constitution.
“I think it’s not an issue that I believe in. At one time I was on a bill. It didn’t mean … I was a congressman, you put your name on a hundred bills just to make somebody happy,” he said, adding that the issue has become a “stumbling block” or “another wrench” in efforts to achieve immigration reform.
Kasich told CNN’s Dana Bash in a recent interview that he changed his mind over time because the birthright issue was too divisive.
“I think we need to get over that. I’m not for it anymore. Let these people who are born here be citizens and that’s the end of it. I don’t want to dwell on it,” he said.
