Possible birthright changes concern Bay Area families

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A young Tampa mother is sharing painful memories of everything she left behind in Honduras to help others understand the impact changes to birthright could have on families.

She left behind four children and her husband when she came here illegally at the age of 31 in 2013. One year later, she became pregnant with her son.

It's a blessing she says, that he's a U.S. citizen.

She declined being identified because she is in the process of obtaining her work permit, but she felt the issue was important enough to speak out.

"Just to think that I had to leave my kids over there to come over here to the United States to look for something better,” she said.  "The opportunities my son is having here, my other kids were never able to have."

Those opportunities may now be in jeopardy with President Trump considering an executive order that would stop automatic citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizens.

In an interview with Axios, the president said the change is in the process.

Jeannie Calderin has been helping immigrants find jobs and resources in the Tampa area for years. She disagrees with the president's idea.

“If they’re here, and they give birth here, why is President Trump going to strip them of their citizenship? That doesn’t make sense," Calderin said. "These women come here looking for a better life. Some of them get here and they are pregnant and that's why they arrive, because they want to give their children what they didn't have."

This mother has a message for President Trump: "Please, Mr. President, do not take the citizenship of these kids."