Trump signs new order targeting birth tourism in latest push on citizenship

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at what he calls "birth tourism", the practice of foreign nationals travelling to the United States on tourist visas with the intention of giving birth so their children acquire American citizenship. The order also seeks to deny automatic citizenship to children of people the administration describes as members of foreign terrorist organisations or agents lobbying for foreign governments.

The president framed the measure as a correction to a system he said had been turned into a "joke". His senior adviser Stephen Miller told reporters the change would ensure that "large numbers of people who wrongly would be getting birthright citizenship will no longer be eligible for those benefits."

Previous effort blocked by the courts

Last year Trump issued an order declaring that children born to parents in the country illegally or on temporary visas were not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and therefore not automatic citizens. Federal courts halted the policy, and the Supreme Court upheld those injunctions in a majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts. The court's three liberal justices were joined by two conservative-leaning colleagues.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War, has long been interpreted to exclude only the children of foreign diplomats and occupying enemy forces. Consular officers already have authority to deny visas to applicants they believe are travelling primarily to give birth.

Part of a wider immigration crackdown

Thursday's order fits into a broader agenda that includes mass deportation plans and the removal of deportation protections for nationals of more than a dozen countries. Immigration advocates argue the latest move is designed to test the judicial appetite for narrowing the Citizenship Clause rather than to survive immediate enforcement.

Legal scholars expect district courts to issue preliminary injunctions within days. The administration will then appeal, setting up a potential return to the Supreme Court before the end of the term.