Going to the US to Give Birth May No Longer Grant Citizenship

US President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship and intensifying the fight against the widely debated “birth tourism”phenomenon. The new initiative is significant because it seeks to limit the practice of foreign nationals automatically obtaining citizenship for their child by giving birth in the United States.

According to reports, the new rules envisage stricter controls on foreign nationals who primarily travel to the US to give birth and thereby obtain American citizenship for their baby. The requirements will also apply to surrogacy arrangements carried out for the same purpose.

For context, the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment provides for citizenship to be granted to people born in the country and subject to US jurisdiction. Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized this rule, stressed the need to restrict it, and put forward a number of initiatives in this area.

The new orders are being viewed as the latest step toward taking a stricter approach in government policy to the practice of obtaining citizenship through birth.