House Republican introduces Birthright Citizenship Clarification Act to codify Trump executive order
Freshman Rep. John McGuire III (R-Va.) introduced Thursday: Birthright Citizenship Disclosure Act Enacting President Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship by eliminating the legal principle of jus soli, or “territorial right,” which grants citizenship to anyone born on a nation’s soil.
McGuire’s bill is coming A few days after the Supreme Court’s decision Trump’s executive order was allegedly unconstitutional but sought to model the warning cited by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who disagreed with the majority opinion.
He argued that the executive order violated existing federal laws that could be changed by Congress, rather than the text of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, a majority of the five justices argued that this was a constitutional issue, not a legal one, and therefore a constitutional amendment was needed to change it.
The legislation introduced by McGuire seeks to replace Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC 1401(a)), which states that any person born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction automatically acquires U.S. citizenship at birth.
The amendment made by the Virginia lawmaker does not grant citizenship to the children of a mother who is in the United States illegally and the father is not a citizen.
This would also affect the right to citizenship for children of a mother with legal temporary presence and children of a father without citizenship, as well as for other less common situations, such as children born aboard a foreign ship or children of foreign government officials.
“American citizenship is a privilege and an honor that must be protected,” McGuire said in a statement. he said.
“For too long, foreign nationals have devalued being an American by taking advantage of the birthright citizenship process through loopholes like birth tourism,” he added.
McGuire worked with the Institute for Legislative Analysis to draft the bill following the Supreme Court’s decision last month.
Fred McGrath, president of the Institute for Legislative Analysis, said he was “confident” McGuire’s legislation would meet the constitutional standard if it faced legal challenges reaching the Supreme Court.
“This bill was carefully crafted to follow the directions provided by Judge Kavanaugh while also implementing every goal President Trump sought in his executive order. Calls to resolve this crisis through constitutional amendment do not recognize the political reality,” Ryan McGowan, CEO of the Institute for Legislative Analysis, said in a statement sent to The Hill. he said.
“This bill represents the optimal path for conservatives to truly stop birth tourism and restore the true meaning of American citizenship,” he added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether GOP leadership supports the bill.
The bill’s introduction follows the president’s promise Wednesday to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider a case over the legality of the executive order restricting birthright citizenship.
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