The Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting automatic citizenship, but Republican lawmakers are pursuing legislation that could sharply restrict the practice through changes to federal immigration law.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump’s effort to restrict automatic birthright citizenship through executive action was rejected Tuesday by the Supreme Court, but Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation that could still reshape who qualifies for U.S. citizenship at birth.
The court ruled against Trump in Trump v. Barbara, a major case involving his 2025 executive order that sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants and temporary visa holders.
While the ruling blocked Trump’s order, congressional Republicans have pending legislation that could pursue the same policy goal through statute, according to a Just the News report.
“American citizenship is a priceless privilege that must be protected, not exploited. We must restore integrity to our immigration system, uphold the rule of law, and protect the value of American citizenship for generations to come,” Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, told Just The News.
The most prominent proposal is the Birthright Citizenship Act, introduced by Babin and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one day after Trump’s 2025 inauguration. Similar versions have been introduced in prior Congresses.
The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit automatic citizenship at birth to children who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident living in the United States, or lawful permanent resident serving in the U.S. military.
The measure relies on a narrower interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” language, which supporters argue does not require citizenship for every child born on U.S. soil.
The debate has focused heavily on children born to illegal immigrants. Critics of automatic birthright citizenship often refer to such children as “anchor babies,” arguing that their citizenship can later be used to support family-based immigration or complicate deportation decisions.
The Center for Immigration Studies estimated that 225,000 to 250,000 children were born to illegal immigrants in 2023, representing nearly 7 percent of all U.S. births. The group said most involved parents from Mexico and Central America, who together account for about 68 percent of the unauthorized population.
Minor U.S. citizen children cannot sponsor their parents for immigration benefits until age 21 under changes adopted in 1976. Still, critics say the children can create long-term family migration pathways and contribute to mixed-status households that carry costs for schools, healthcare and welfare programs.
Estimates cited in the report suggest millions of U.S.-born children of unauthorized Latin American immigrants now live in the United States.
Trump also targeted birth tourism early in his second term. Birth tourism involves foreign nationals traveling to the United States on temporary visas in order to give birth and secure U.S. citizenship for their children.
Investigative journalist Peter Schweizer described the practice in his 2026 book, “The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon,” writing that China has developed a large organized industry around U.S. birth tourism.
Chinese officials have estimated that around 50,000 Chinese nationals give birth each year in the United States or U.S. territories such as Saipan. Some scholars estimate the figure may be closer to 100,000 annually, according to Marketplace’s China.
Schweizer reported that more than 1,000 birth tourism companies operate in China with a focus on the United States. The companies offer concierge packages costing up to $100,000, including visa guidance, medical arrangements and, in some cases, instructions on concealing pregnancies or claiming indigent status to reduce hospital bills.
China leads birth tourism activity by a wide margin, though Russia has also been involved through firms in South Florida, including Miami Mama.
NBC6 in South Florida reported that Miami Mama LLC was raided by the FBI in 2017 and had been operating in Miami since 2009. The company offered packages ranging from just under $20,000 to more than $53,000, including medicines and childbirth-related procedures. NBC also reported that the owner was never convicted over the business’s operations.
Independent estimates from the Center for Immigration Studies place total U.S. birth tourism births at about 20,000 to 36,000 annually in recent years. The precise number remains unclear because the federal government does not systematically track parents’ nationalities or travel intent on birth certificates.
The CDC reported about 9,600 births in 2024 to foreign mothers who listed addresses outside the United States and its territories, a limited proxy for the broader issue.
In addition to proposals restricting birthright citizenship itself, some lawmakers are targeting the birth tourism industry.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s Ban Birth Tourism Act, introduced in 2025, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to make visitors inadmissible on B visas if their purpose is birth tourism.
Sen. John Cornyn’s BACK OFF Act, introduced in 2026, would impose criminal penalties on those facilitating fraud or organized birth tourism schemes and create a dedicated enforcement task force.
The Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s executive order leaves the long-standing interpretation of automatic birthright citizenship intact for now. But the legislative push by Republicans shows the issue may continue through Congress, where supporters argue that changing federal law could provide a more durable path than executive action alone.
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