The Trump administration is once again trying to limit who can become an American, with a pair of executive orders issued this week that attempt to place restrictions on birthright citizenship and on foreigners who give birth in the U.S. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
A Supreme Court decision in June struck down a previous attempt at restricting birthright citizenship, but Thursday’s orders were made with “adjustments” keeping the decision in mind, President Donald Trump said.
Still, some of the restrictions announced by the White House are expected to face legal challenges.
The 14th Amendment, which makes a citizen of anyone born in the country, and two subsequent Supreme Court decisions interpreting it provide guidelines that already exclude certain births from receiving the citizenship benefit.
Trump’s new attempt to restrict birthright citizenship even after the Supreme Court loss highlights the administration’s drive to limit who can become an American.
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under current law for anyone who is born on U.S. soil, with a few exceptions.
The executive order released Thursday was narrower in scope than the previous one shot down by the Supreme Court and appeared to focus on restricting automatic citizenship to specific categories of people, including children born to adults with connections to foreign embassies or organizations as well as anyone considered an “alien enemy” of the United States.
U.S. immigration law says babies born to a “foreign diplomatic officer accredited to the United States” are not entitled to birthright citizenship under the Constitution, including ambassadors, ministers, chargés d’affaires, counselors, secretaries and attachés of embassies and legations, and members of the Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities.
Trump’s orders Thursday would sharply expand those exemptions.
One order disqualifies babies who are products of “birth tourism.” The other applies to children of anyone working in a foreign embassy or representing a foreign government and employees of the United Nations or other international organizations. Children of parents tied to groups that are deemed terrorist organizations, like Antifa or Tren de Aragua, are also excluded.