According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the documents expands the list of categories of children of foreign nationals who should be excluded from the right to automatically obtain U.S. citizenship at birth. This includes children of diplomats and other individuals representing foreign governments, as well as citizens of countries that the U.S. administration classifies as “hostile.” In addition, the executive order provides for the possibility of extending similar restrictions to children born in U.S. overseas territories, should Congress make the necessary legislative changes.
The second executive order aims to combat “birth tourism”—the practice in which foreign women travel to the U.S. solely to give birth to a child in order to secure U.S. citizenship for that child. The document directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to take additional measures against such schemes. A similar approach applies to cases of surrogacy if the purpose is to obtain U.S. citizenship for the child.
The White House stated that insufficient efforts to combat such practices have contributed to the development of an international industry that allows individuals to circumvent U.S. immigration laws and obtain benefits associated with citizenship.
The right to citizenship by birth is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which stipulates that persons born within the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the country. Attempts to limit the scope of this provision have already been the subject of legal proceedings.
It should be noted that on June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a previous attempt by the administration to change the procedure for granting citizenship by birth. Despite this, the White House stated that its course toward revising the current practice remains unchanged.
According to estimates by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, the new executive orders will most likely also be the subject of legal challenges.
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