Trump administration’s latest citizenship move: New passport rules proposed for parents of US-born children | Today’s news
The US State Department has proposed requiring parents and legal guardians to prove their own citizenship or immigration status when applying for US passports for their children as part of the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to curtail birthright citizenship.
The draft guidance, reviewed by Reuters, offers the first detailed look at how the State Department might implement Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order targeting what the administration calls “birth tourism” and expanding exemptions to automatic citizenship at birth.
The White House directed Reuters questions to the State Department. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the administration wants the passport decision-making process to reflect Trump’s stance on protecting the “meaning and value of American citizenship.”
Parents may face new documentation requirements
Under the proposed guidelines, parents applying for a passport for a child would have to prove their own citizenship or immigration status.
Parents of US citizens may be asked to provide documents such as a valid US passport or birth certificate. Non-citizen parents could provide evidence including Form I-94 or lawful permanent resident status.
The information would be used to determine whether a child falls under the restrictions outlined in Trump’s executive order.
Currently, parents of US-born children generally need to establish their relationship to the child and provide photo identification during the passport application process. While applicants indicate whether they are a US citizen, supporting documentation is not currently required solely to demonstrate that status.
Trump’s latest order targets ‘birth tourism’
Trump’s Aug. 6 executive order is narrower than his earlier attempt to limit birthright citizenship. Specifically, it focuses on “birth tourism,” in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so that their children can obtain U.S. citizenship.
The latest directive would also deny citizenship to some children if a parent works for a foreign government in the US, is involved in a fraud or business transaction aimed at obtaining citizenship, or is classified as an “enemy alien.”
The draft guidance states that the State Department will require information from parents and evidence of parental citizenship or immigration status when determining whether an applicant is covered by the executive order.
The Supreme Court previously blocked Trump’s citizenship order
Curbing first-born citizenship has been a top priority of Trump’s broader crackdown on immigration.
Trump’s earlier executive order sought to limit automatic citizenship at birth to children with at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a green card holder.
The US Supreme Court ruled the order illegal in a 6-3 decision, with the majority finding it violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Trump’s latest order could also face legal challenges and has yet to take effect.
Read also | Does your foreign passport take away inherited agricultural land in India?
Legal challenges are already underway
Lawyers representing children who could lose their citizenship under Trump’s earlier order asked two federal judges to block the latest directive.
One of the cases is before U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland. At a hearing Friday in Greenbelt, Boardman expressed skepticism about what she called Trump’s unprecedented order.
She allowed the plaintiffs to revise their lawsuit so she could consider whether to block the policy.
Justice Department lawyers argued that issuing an injunction would be inappropriate because federal authorities have yet to publicly issue guidance explaining how the directive will be implemented.
The State Department’s draft guidance could therefore become a key issue in the ongoing legal battle over the scope of first-born citizenship and the administration’s powers to limit it.
Read also | How South Korea’s birth rate is rising while the rest of the world is falling
