Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship in the United States. This follows the Supreme Court's June ruling against his earlier order, Trump v. Barbara, which sought to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The new order denies birthright citizenship to four categories of children:

• Those with at least one parent designated as part of a Foreign Terrorist Organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189 or as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, consistent with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Executive Order 13224 (which blocks property and prohibits transactions with persons supporting terrorism).
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute, notably American Samoa.
• Children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity (excluded from citizenship).

According to Reason, all these children, except those with diplomatic immunity, are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The clause grants citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction. The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara clarified that this includes children of all persons subject to U.S. law.

The new executive order affects a smaller group than the previous one but is also considered unconstitutional by legal experts cited by Reason. No part of the U.S. has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a condition sometimes cited in arguments about "alien enemies."

Sources

• Ilya Somin, Reason, Trump Issues Another Unconstitutional Executive Order Targeting Birthright Citizenship