During a Tuesday night debate, incumbent Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly (D) said that he is willing to consider any legislation regarding the termination of birthright citizenship.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that he wanted to use an executive order to end birthright citizenship. Trump expressed his displeasure with the current system, which permits children born to noncitizen parents while in the U.S. to be granted citizenship.
You can read more about the issue here.
During the televised debate with his challenger, Mike Braun, who is a Republican businessman and former Indiana state representative, Donnelly said that it only made sense for him to be open to immigration reform.
"I’m the only person on this stage who voted three times for a border wall. I voted against sanctuary cities. I’ve stood for secure borders with John McCain when in 2013, we passed legislation that would have provided an additional 20,000 border agents to the border," the senator said about his immigration voting record.
Donnelly added that if Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was going to introduce such legislation that would end birthright citizenship, he would "have to take a look at that legislation."
"I'd want to see that legislation, make sure it was constitutional and review it first," he added.
During the debate, Braun also weighed in on the issue, and said that he would look at the legislation "if Lindsey Graham's introducing it."
In a statement to The Hill, Donnelly said that the U.S.'s "immigration system is broken," and something needs to be done about it.
"At tonight’s debate, there was a question about birthright citizenship," Donnelly's statement read. "The 14th Amendment is clear. What’s also clear is that our immigration system is broken. As I have done in the past, I will work with both parties to find a solution that secures our borders and fixes our broken immigration laws."
A recent poll conducted by Cygnal showed that Donnelly had fallen 3 points behind Braun.
President Donald Trump officially endorsed Braun in September during a campaign rally in Evansville, Indiana.
The Senate election in Indiana is one of 10 “most likely to flip in 2018,” CNN reported in January.
The Cook Political Report calls the race a toss-up. A recent average of polls compiled and analyzed by RealClearPolitics has Braun up by 0.5 percentage points.
