Trump doubles down on 'birth tourism'
When the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled in favor of broad citizenship rights for babies born in the United States, one of the most
When the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled in favor of broad citizenship rights for babies born in the United States, one of the most conservative justices complained that the decision was so sweeping it would even cover so-called birth tourists.Women "who come here solely for the purpose of giving birth" would be able to get automatic citizenship for their children, Samuel Alito wrote, dissenting from the 6-3 ruling that invalidated President Donald Trump's first attempt to curtail U.S. birthright citizenship.Also read: Trump signs orders to limit US birthright citizenship, despite Supreme Court rulingUndeterred by the court's ruling, Trump tried again on Thursday, signing two executive orders largely aimed at birth tourism. That part of Trump's action, which is certain to face legal challenges, is likely doomed, legal experts said. It targets a category of people that legal experts said the Supreme Court already addressed."These children are citizens based on their birth on U.S. soil," said University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost, who studies birthright citizenship. "Illegal conduct by their parent can have no bearing on their status."The Republican president has for years threatened to tighten birthright citizenship as part of his restrictive immigration agenda. On the first day of his second term in January 2025, Trump issued a sweeping order that targeted immigrants in the country illegally or even temporarily on a legal basis, including those on work visas or students.The court's June 30 ruling striking it down, in a case called Trump v.
Barbara, held that the policy violated language in the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that confers citizenship to those born in the United States who are "subject to the jurisdiction thereof."To curtail birth tourism, one of Trump's new orders directs federal agencies not to recognize a child's citizenship if either parent is "engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship."A second executive order seeks to bar visas for foreigners suspected of birth tourism, although it was unclear how it would be enforced. Federal regulation currently bars using temporary visas for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a newborn.Speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump renewed his criticism of the ruling and said that "people are building businesses around" birth tourism, suggesting that "hundreds of thousands" are wrongly benefiting. Some analyses cite smaller numbers, with Penn State University scholars estimating 5,000 to 10,000 births each year from 2014 to 2024.Besides birth tourism, Trump's new directive also seeks to expand historical exceptions to automatic birthright citizenship, which include children of diplomatic representatives such as ambassadors and hostile foreign troops occupying U.S. territory. The order would widen the categories to include foreign government employees and those deemed foreign terrorists.SCHOLARS DIVIDEDScholars were divided over whether courts might allow some of these expansions.Expanding the category of diplomats is potentially legal, depending on how it is done, said Frost, "though that requires giving those people significant immunity from U.S. law."University of California, Berkeley law professor John Yoo, who worked as a Justice Department official during Republican George W.
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