President Donald Trump has wrongly stated the US is the only country to have birthright citizenship as he revealed plans to sign an executive order to end the policy.
The president confirmed that he plans to sign an executive order to stop American citizenship being given to children born to non-citizens and unauthorised immigrants on US soil.
In an interview with Axios, Mr Trump labelled the policy “ridiculous” before incorrectly claiming that the US is the only country in the world which offers birthright citizenship.
He wrongly said: “We're the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits.”
“It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” he added during the interview.
Mr Trump’s comments in the interview are incorrect as 30 other countries - including Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama and Jamaica - also offer birthright citizenship.
Known legally as "jus soli", birthright citizenship is also granted in Cuba, Chile and Grenada, among others.
Mr Trump's comments come as a row brews in the US over his plans to sign an executive order over birthright citizenship, which he said was “in the process” and “will happen”.
He said: “It was always told to me that you needed a constitutional amendment, but guess what, you don’t.
“You can definitely do it with an act of Congress, but now they’re saying I can do it with just an executive order.”
It’s thought that should the order happen, Mr Trump would face a legal battle to enforce it.
Previous executive orders signed by Mr Trump include improving mental health treatment for veterans and a travel ban on people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The Pentagon has now confirmed it is deploying 5,200 troops to the Southwest border in a military operation focusing on a slow-moving caravan of Central American migrants.
The number of troops being sent is more than double the 2,000 who are in Syria fighting the Islamic State group.
Two caravans of migrants, travelling mostly on foot, are still hundreds of miles from the U.S. border with Mexico.
Any who complete the long trek to the border already face major hurdles to asylum in the country - both physical and bureaucratic - to being allowed to remain in the United States.
Mr Trump, eager to keep voters trained on immigration in the lead-up to the midterm elections, has stepped up his dire warnings about the caravans.
In a post on Twitter, he wrote: "This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!"
