Rep. Brian Babin announced a bill Tuesday to deny birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants, moving to add some legislative heft to President Trump’s new crusade.
The Texas Republican’s bill would lay out who, specifically, is granted birthright citizenship, limiting it to children of a U.S. citizen, a legal permanent resident or someone with a temporary nonimmigrant legal status serving active duty with the U.S. military.
That would leave out children born to illegal immigrants, tourists and short-term business visitors, guest workers and most others here on temporary passes.
“Citizenship is one of our nation’s most precious privileges. By introducing this legislation, we are taking an important step to restore integrity to our immigration system and prioritize the interests of American citizens,” Mr. Babin said.
For more than a century, most babies born on U.S. soil have automatically had citizenship.
Mr. Trump has long argued that’s a bad policy. During his first term, he repeatedly threatened to try to change it but never pulled the trigger. That changed on Monday, the first day of his new term, when he issued an order limiting automatic citizenship.
He ordered his administration not to issue documents denoting citizenship, such as a Social Security number, in cases where the child was born to a mother here illegally, or here as a temporary visitor, and where the father is also not a citizen or legal resident.
“The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift,” Mr. Trump wrote in defending his changes.
His proposed changes kick in after 30 days and only affect future cases.
Multiple lawsuits have already been filed challenging Mr. Trump’s order.
At issue is what the Constitution’s 14th Amendment allows when it says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Most legal scholars who have studied the issue say that guarantees nearly everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen.
Some scholars, though, say there’s wiggle room inside the words “subject to the jurisdiction.” They argue that illegal immigrants and temporary visitors don’t meet that definition and can be denied automatic citizenship.
Beyond that, there’s a question of whether changes — if they’re allowed under the Constitution — can be made by executive action or need Congress.
Sen. Josh Hawley, Missouri Republican, said he hadn’t read the executive order but said Mr. Trump’s attempt to define who can be excluded based on the “subject to the jurisdiction” language is “the right hook.”
“The real question is can the executive do that, or do we have to do it, does Congress have to do it?” he said. “I know that we can do it. Can he do it by executive order? I’m less clear on that.”
Other Republicans were less enamored by the idea.
Sen. Mike Rounds, South Dakota Republican, said he believes “the Constitution was pretty clear” in that anyone born in the U.S., including children of illegal immigrants, qualifies for citizenship.
“Whether or not the courts today would agree with that or not, will be determined in the courts,” he said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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