LEADERSHIPTrump Targets ‘Birth Tourism’

Trump Cracks Down on 'Birth Tourism'

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting ‘birth tourism’, aiming to restrict birthright citizenship for individuals who enter the country under the guise of tourism but actually intend to give birth. This move is part of Trump’s broader push to limit immigration, following a previous Supreme Court defeat on the issue. The order also seeks to deny citizenship to children of members of “foreign terrorist organisations” and “large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments.”

The new order is a response to what Trump describes as the exploitation of birthright citizenship, which he believes has been “made a joke out of.” According to Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisors, the move “ensures that large numbers of people who wrongly would be getting birthright citizenship will no longer be eligible for those benefits.” This effort is part of a wider campaign to limit immigration, including the expulsion of millions of undocumented migrants and the removal of deportation protections from nationals of more than a dozen countries.

The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution grants citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil, with exceptions for those not subject to US jurisdiction, such as the children of foreign diplomats. Trump’s administration has argued that the amendment, passed after the Civil War, does not apply to the children of undocumented migrants or visitors. However, the Supreme Court has upheld the principle of birthright citizenship, ruling that it applies to almost all individuals born in the United States.

The implications of this order are significant, as it could potentially deny citizenship to thousands of individuals born in the US to parents who are not citizens. The order is likely to face legal challenges, given the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on the issue. As the debate over birthright citizenship continues, the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict it are likely to remain a contentious issue in the realm of US immigration policy.