Web Desk(National Times)- US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, once again challenging a provision of the US Constitution even though the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in the Republican president\u2019s crackdown on immigration, with the White House taking particular aim at what it calls \u201cbirth tourism,\u201d in which pregnant foreigners travel to the US to give birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After his June 30 setback in the Supreme Court, Trump called on Congress to act, but on Thursday he opted for executive orders, which set policy but do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional Trump\u2019s earlier executive order, which targeted a wide swath of immigrants in the country illegally or temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The administration argues the new directive falls outside the purview of the Supreme Court ruling, as it seeks to reinterpret the narrow, historical exceptions to citizenship at birth and expand who is ineligible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned,\u201d White House aide Stephen Miller said at the Thursday signing ceremony in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Centre for Immigration Studies, which supports lower levels of immigration, estimated in an analysis in 2020 that between 20,000 and 25,000 mothers came to the US for birth tourism in a year-long period between 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were 3.6 million births in the US in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The executive orders also limit the rights of children born to foreign government employees in the US and children of people who are classified as alien enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The orders could also affect people born in US territories, should Congress enact a proposed law to end automatic citizenship there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s new orders are likely to face legal challenge. Legal experts said it was unclear what effect the executive orders might have given the Supreme Court ruling, while immigrant advocates called it an attempt to evade the high court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) predicted it was doomed to fail in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust five weeks ago, the Supreme Court made clear that birthright citizenship is not subject to a president\u2019s whims; it is a constitutional guarantee that has stood for more than 150 years. Today\u2019s executive orders are nothing more than an attempt to get around that ruling,\u201d said Deborah Fleischaker, a former Biden administration official who is now with UnidosUS, a Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zain Lakhani of the Women\u2019s Refugee Commission said the executive orders could trample the rights of pregnant women seeking lawful entry \u201cin one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives\u201d, and called on the government to establish guidelines honouring the Supreme Court ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018A very unfortunate decision\u2019
Trump, speaking in the Oval Office on Thursday, called the Supreme Court\u2019s 6-3 ruling on June 30 a \u201cvery unfortunate decision\u201d, decrying that \u201cpeople are building businesses around\u201d birth tourism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the way it\u2019s supposed to work. It\u2019s a disgrace. They\u2019re buying their way in, and we\u2019re not going to let it happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s prior executive order, issued on his first day in office in 2025 as part of a suite of policies to crack down on immigration, directed US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the United States if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, also called a \u201cgreen card\u201d holder \u2014 barring babies of immigrants in the US illegally or temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 14th Amendment has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship for babies born in the US with only narrow exceptions such as the children of foreign diplomats or members of an enemy occupying force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was done for a different reason. This was done right after the Civil War. This was for the babies of slaves, and what\u2019s happening now?\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are no official figures tallying the number of foreigners who come to the US for the explicit purpose of giving birth and obtaining citizenship for their children, or the cost to taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In any case, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the Supreme Court ruling that the authors of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to every free-born person in the land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCitizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights \u2014 to freely participate in our political community. We keep that promise today,\u201d Roberts wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 14th Amendment provision known as the Citizenship Clause states: \u201cAll persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Web Desk(National Times)- US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in a new but narrower attempt to curtail birthright citizenship, once again challenging a provision of the US Constitution even though the Supreme Court rejected his previous effort. Limiting birthright citizenship has been one of the top priorities in the Republican president\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n