Trump Revives Push Against Birthright Citizenship

US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders in another attempt to restrict automatic citizenship for children born in the United States. The measures are aimed primarily at so-called birth tourism.

The first order directs federal agencies to deny citizenship to a child if either parent is engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain US citizenship. The second is intended to prevent visas being issued to foreigners suspected of seeking to travel to the US primarily to give birth.

Legal experts, however, warn that the provisions are unlikely to hold up in court. In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's previous attempt to restrict birthright citizenship by a 6-3 vote. It ruled that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution grants citizenship to people born on US soil, regardless of any unlawful conduct by their parents.

Trump's executive orders also seek to expand historical exceptions that currently apply, for example, to the children of foreign diplomats. Under the new rules, these could be extended to cover the children of foreign government employees or individuals designated as foreign terrorists.

The White House claims that the measures do not conflict with Supreme Court rulings. However, several professors of constitutional and immigration law have called them unconstitutional.

(Reuters, luc)