Trump renews push to restrict US birthright citizenship
US President Donald Trump has renewed his campaign to restrict birthright citizenship, signing two executive orders aimed at limiting citizenship for some children born in the United States and banning so-called birth tourism.
The first order targets children born to two non-citizen parents where one parent is linked to a foreign terrorist organisation, works for a foreign government, has attempted to obtain citizenship fraudulently or lives in certain US territories where citizenship is not automatically conferred under federal law.
The second order seeks to curb birth tourism, in which pregnant women allegedly travel to the US to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.
Trump criticised the Supreme Court for rejecting his earlier attempt to end birthright citizenship, saying his administration would pursue the policy “in a different way.”
The court ruled in June that Trump’s previous effort to end the constitutional protection could not stand, leaving birthright citizenship intact under the 14th Amendment.
Trump administration officials argue the president has authority under immigration law to restrict entry for people travelling specifically to give birth in the US.
However, legal experts have questioned whether the president can deny citizenship to a child once born on American soil.
University of California Davis law professor Gabriel Chin said some provisions could survive legal scrutiny, but others raise “serious constitutional questions.”
He also described birth tourism as a relatively small phenomenon compared with millions of annual US births.
