Senate Republicans introduce bill to reform birthright citizenship, following Trump’s controversial order

Following President Donald Trump’s controversial day-one enforcement bid attempting to extremity birthright citizenship for the children of amerciable immigrants, respective Senate Republicans person introduced a measure that would betterment U.S. instrumentality to execute precisely that.

Titled the "Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025," the measure would extremity the signifier of automatically conferring citizenship presumption connected radical calved successful the U.S. of parents who are either amerciable aliens oregon who are successful the state legally connected a impermanent basis. The measure was introduced successful the Senate connected Jan. 31 by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas.

The bill’s sponsors said successful a connection that the measurement would code what they called "one of the biggest magnets for amerciable immigration," which they judge poses a weakness to nationalist security.

TRUMP ORDER ENDING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IS CONSTITUTIONAL, EXPERT SAYS

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, joined by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a quality league astatine the Capitol successful Washington, Thursday, May 9, 2024.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates determination are 33,000 births to tourer women successful the U.S. annually. CIS further estimates that determination are hundreds of thousands much births to amerciable aliens oregon aliens contiguous connected impermanent visas.

A 2022 study by the Senate Committee connected Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs revealed the beingness of respective "birth tourism" companies successful the U.S., including 1 called "Miami Mama" that catered to affluent Russian clients looking to summation ineligible presumption successful the U.S.

"It is agelong overdue for the United States to alteration its argumentation connected birthright citizenship due to the fact that it is being abused successful truthful galore ways," Graham said successful the Friday statement. 

He pointed to the signifier of commencement tourism, which helium said was enabling "wealthy individuals from China and different nations to travel to the United States simply to person a kid who volition beryllium an American citizen."

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A antheral plays with a kid portion waiting with different migrants from Venezuela adjacent a autobus presumption aft being released from U.S. Border Patrol custody successful El Paso, Texas, U.S., September 13, 2022.  (REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez)

"When you look astatine the magnets that gully radical to America, birthright citizenship is 1 of the largest," said Graham. "I besides admit President Trump’s enforcement bid to code birthright citizenship. It is clip for the United States to align itself with the remainder of the satellite and restrict this signifier erstwhile and for all."

Currently, modular signifier successful the U.S. is to assistance automatic citizenship to each children calved connected U.S. soil. This has been the signifier lone since the 1960s and is based connected what immoderate judge is simply a flawed mentation of the 14th Amendment, which reads that "all persons calved oregon naturalized successful the United States, and taxable to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

The Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025 would clarify that to conscionable the "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" clause, a idiosyncratic calved successful the U.S. indispensable person astatine slightest 1 genitor who is simply a citizen, national, ineligible imperishable resident, oregon ineligible alien serving successful the U.S. subject connected progressive duty.  

The instrumentality clarifies that it would not impact the citizenship of anyone calved earlier the law’s transition and would lone restrict the citizenship of those calved successful the U.S. after.

22 STATES CHALLENGE TRUMP'S 'UNCONSTITUTIONAL' BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER 

US President Donald Trump speaks with US Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott (R) arsenic they participates successful a ceremonial commemorating the 200th mile of borderline partition astatine the planetary borderline with Mexico successful San Luis, Arizona, June 23, 2020.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP )

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This comes aft Trump signed an enforcement bid titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" connected his archetypal time successful office. The order, which has since been temporarily blocked by a tribunal ruling, directed authorities agencies to refrain from issuing immoderate documents recognizing the citizenship of immoderate children calved successful the U.S. to amerciable and impermanent migrants.

Hans von Spakovsky, a elder ineligible chap astatine the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that helium believes "if this contented gets to the Supreme Court, and it is highly apt that it will, if the tribunal applies the existent substance of the amendment and looks astatine its legislative past — what the sponsors of the measure said astatine the clip — and follows its ain precedents successful the 3 cases that looked astatine this issue, past they volition regularisation successful Trump’s favor. This measure would simply clarify what we already cognize astir the amendment and its intent."

"The astir important constituent present is that this measure is not trying to amend the 14th Amendment," he said. "It is simply explaining what the presumption of the 14th Amendment mean."

"I deliberation it is important for Congress to reemphasize what it said erstwhile it archetypal sponsored and passed the 14th Amendment: that the operation ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the U.S. would not use to the kid of an alien who is illegally successful the U.S. and is, erstwhile born, a national of the state of the child’s parents, and truthful not taxable to the jurisdiction of the U.S.," helium went on. "The existent statute, 8 USC 1401, simply repeats the connection of the 14th Amendment. It has been wholly misinterpreted successful caller decades by those who mistakenly accidental the amendment and the national instrumentality lone necessitate commencement successful the U.S." 

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Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Echoing the connection utilized successful Trump’s order, Britt said that "the committedness of American citizenship should not incentivize amerciable migration, but that’s precisely what has happened for acold excessively long." 

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"It’s clip to hole this," said Britt. "Senator Lindsey Graham’s and my Birthright Citizenship Act would codify President Trump’s commonsense stance and extremity the maltreatment of birthright citizenship that I bash not judge is accordant with the archetypal meaning of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. This volition support our nation’s sovereignty, disincentivize amerciable migration, and guarantee America’s citizenship practices are stronger and amended aligned with adjacent countries astir the globe."

This comes aft House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced a measure connected Jan. 21 to likewise clarify that the 14th Amendment does not see children of those who are successful the state illegally oregon connected a impermanent basis.