United States President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order aimed at curbing what he described as “birth tourism”, in another attempt by his administration to restrict birthright citizenship.
Trump signed the order on Thursday, accusing some foreigners of entering the United States on the pretence of tourism with the intention of giving birth and securing US citizenship for their children.
“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The move comes weeks after the US Supreme Court rejected an earlier attempt by Trump to restrict birthright citizenship. Trump described the court’s ruling as “very unfortunate”.
Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, said the latest order would also seek to deny citizenship to children linked to certain foreign terrorist organisations and people he accused of lobbying or acting on behalf of foreign governments.
Miller said the measure was intended to stop what the administration considers the wrongful granting of birthright citizenship.
Trump had issued another executive order last year seeking to prevent children born in the US to undocumented immigrants or people on temporary visas from automatically becoming American citizens.
The order was blocked by lower courts, which held that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees citizenship to almost everyone born on American soil.
The amendment states that “all persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
There are exceptions under US law, including children of foreign diplomats who are not considered subject to US jurisdiction. American authorities can also deny visas where a consular officer believes an applicant intends to travel to the US primarily to give birth.
The Trump administration had previously argued that the 14th Amendment was intended to protect the citizenship rights of former slaves after the American Civil War and did not extend to children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors.
Trump’s latest move is part of his broader immigration crackdown, which includes plans to deport millions of undocumented migrants and withdraw deportation protections from nationals of several countries.
The policy is expected to face fresh legal challenges as opponents argue that the president cannot unilaterally change constitutional protections on citizenship.
