The United States is witnessing a significant shift in immigration policy with President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship. These orders, signed just one month after the Supreme Court struck down a previous attempt, seek to deny US citizenship to children born to non-citizens, including those deemed ‘birth tourists’.
The orders, which have not yet been made public, expand the definitions of children ineligible for birthright citizenship and aim to ban ‘birth tourism’. President Trump claimed that ‘hundreds of thousands’ of people engage in this practice, a figure disputed by the Migration Policy Institute, which estimates the number to be between 22,000 to 26,000 annually.
Historical Context and Personal Connections
It is worth noting that Trump’s own family history intersects with the issue of birthright citizenship. His father, Fred Trump, was born a US citizen in 1905 to a non-citizen mother who arrived in New York from Germany six months pregnant. Similarly, Trump’s Scottish-born mother, Mary Anne Trump, gave birth to her first two children in the US before becoming a US citizen herself.
Key Provisions of the New Orders
The new executive orders attempt to limit birthright citizenship in two primary ways. The first order bars the entry of foreigners allegedly traveling to the US ‘for the purpose of giving birth on American soil’. The second order seeks to deny citizenship to the children of certain categories of non-citizens, including:
- Members of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists
- Foreign government employees including ambassadors and other embassy or consulate employees
- Employees of international organizations with international-organization immunity
- Individuals ‘engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship’
The orders also deny citizenship to the children of non-citizens ‘born in a territory or territorial waters of the United States where citizenship is not conferred by Federal statute’.
Trump’s Interpretation of the 14th Amendment
President Trump has provided a controversial interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which enshrines the principle of birthright citizenship. He stated that the amendment was meant ‘for the babies of slaves’ and was passed shortly after the Civil War. In reality, the amendment was passed by Congress on 13 June 1866 and ratified on 9 July 1868, more than a year after General Robert E Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865.
Trump’s assertion that the framers of the amendment only intended it to apply to the children of former slaves was roundly rejected by the Supreme Court in 1898. Despite this well-known precedent, Trump’s adviser, Stephen Miller, insisted that the president was correct.
The president also claimed that the US is ‘the only country, of size, I think just about the only country period, that does birthright citizenship’. This statement is also inaccurate, as thirty-two other countries, most in the western hemisphere, have similar birthright citizenship laws.
Political Reactions and Implications
The new executive orders have sparked a range of political reactions. While some supporters of the president have praised the move as a step to ‘protect the meaning and value of American citizenship’, critics have raised concerns about the orders’ legality and potential impact on families.
As the debate continues, the new orders are expected to face legal challenges and scrutiny from various quarters. The implications of these orders on US immigration policy and the families affected by them remain to be seen.
