Trump targets birth tourism and citizenship in new executive orders
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President Trump signed two executive orders Thursday seeking to narrow birthright citizenship in several circumstances and intensify the federal crackdown on commercial "birth tourism."
- Trump also is seeking to deny birthright citizenship for children born of some foreign diplomatic staff in the U.S. and, potentially, U.S. territories in the future.
Why it matters: It's Trump's second attempt to curb birthright citizenship in the U.S. and is sure to be challenged in court as a violation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born in America.
- The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 shot down a broader executive order Trump signed on Inauguration Day to deny automatic citizenship to those born of noncitizens in the U.S.
Zoom in: Trump's administration argues that the ruling still grants him the authority to limit birthright citizenship under long-standing exceptions recognized by the court. The executive orders apply only to future births tied to four categories:
- Children born of foreign diplomatic staff working on behalf of another government while in the U.S. The 14th Amendment doesn't confer automatic citizenship to ambassadors' families, and this order would expand that category to other noncitizen employees.
- Children of people who are classified as alien enemies, including those who belong to federally declared terrorist groups. The 14th Amendment doesn't apply to invading armies, and this designation would expand that category.
- Those born in U.S. territories — but only if Congress changes the law to end automatic citizenship there. A bill seeking to do that was introduced last month but isn't expected to pass. This would apply most notably to those in Puerto Rico.
- Children born of mothers who expressly and deceptively enter the U.S. for the sole purpose of having a child here, namely at a birth-tourism center. The order seeks to limit the use of surrogate mothers for this purpose as well.
Between the lines: The administration argues that creating this birth-tourism exception is permitted because of parents' fraudulent misrepresentation in gaining access to the U.S., typically as tourists or workers.
- The government can revoke the citizenship of those naturalized by fraud. The new order says this exception now applies to a mother if she deceptively engages in the commercial practice of birth tourism, officials say.
A second executive order directs the secretary of state and the Department of Homeland Security secretary to issue rules and guidance to stop birth tourism and target the industry at home and abroad.
- U.S. law already bans getting a tourist visa "for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States."
- Immigration officials also can deny a pregnant foreign national from entering the U.S. if they determine she's entering the country for the purpose of giving birth.
The intrigue: The House Oversight Committee is investigating birth tourism centers and in May requested a host of documents from a company called "Have My Baby in Miami."
- "The benefits of U.S. citizenship are a unique privilege," the committee wrote.
- "However, as foreign expectant mothers traveling for this purpose come predominantly from China and Russia, there are concerns that the birth tourism industry is giving rise to potential national security and election integrity threats posed by adversarial nations that challenge U.S. interests."
- The Senate Homeland Security Committee also released a 2022 report on birth tourism.
By the numbers: Estimates about the number of children who've been the result of birth tourism range from the low thousands to the tens of thousands.
What they're saying: Trump has focused heavily on birth tourism as part of his so-far unsuccessful push to limit birthright citizenship more broadly.
- "Birthright citizenship is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World, who want their children, and hundreds of thousands more, FOR PAY, to ridiculously become citizens of the United States of America," he wrote March 30 on Truth Social.
- His critics said then that he should focus on just that.
- "If birth tourism is a problem, the answer is to enforce that regulation," Amanda Frost, a University of Virginia immigration law professor, told PolitiFact in an analysis.
This story has been updated to reflect Trump signing the executive orders.
