What’s behind Donald Trump’s promise to end birthright citizenship and halting birth tourism

Former US President & now President-elect Donald Trump announced his plan to sign an executive order on Day One of his potential new term to end automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants in the United States.

A day-one priority

“As part of my plan to secure the border, on Day One of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship,” Trump said.

The policy aims to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Trump argues that this has been misinterpreted to include children of illegal immigrants, incentivizing illegal border crossings and practices like “birth tourism.”

Curtailing incentives for illegal immigration

“This policy will choke off a major incentive for continued illegal immigration, deter more migrants from coming, and encourage many of the aliens Joe Biden has unlawfully let into our country to go back to their home countries,” Trump stated.

Under his plan, federal agencies would require at least one parent to be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their child to gain automatic citizenship. The executive order would also deny related benefits such as passports, Social Security numbers, and taxpayer-funded welfare to these children.

Ending birth tourism

Trump also pledged to tackle birth tourism, a practice in which foreign nationals travel to the US to give birth, securing citizenship for their child. “Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the planet squat in hotels for their last few weeks of pregnancy to illegitimately and illegally obtain US citizenship for the child,” Trump said, describing the practice as “so horrible and egregious.”

Broader immigration reforms

This proposed executive order is part of Trump’s larger strategy to secure the US-Mexico border and combat illegal immigration. He cited previous executive actions, including the Travel Ban and extreme vetting policies, as evidence of his commitment to immigration reform.

Trump criticized President Biden’s immigration policies, calling them a “national security, economic, and humanitarian disaster” due to the record number of illegal crossings, drug smuggling, and strain on public resources.

“We will secure our borders and restore our sovereignty,” Trump concluded. “Starting on Day One, our country will be great again. Our country will be a country again.”