U.S. Senate to examine birthright citizenship restrictions

The U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment ensures the protection of U.S. citizenship, originally created to allow African Americans citizenship upon birth, however interpretation of the amendment has been called into question. Specifically, the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” portion of the 14th Amendment is being analyzed to determine if children of tourists and illegal aliens do not qualify for citizenship when born in the U.S.

Illegal aliens and tourists have benefited from decades of interpretation of the 14th Amendment allowing their children born in the U.S. to become U.S. citizens and gain access to all of the benefits, such as education, medical care, protection against deportation, and more.

“Birthright citizenship should be for US citizens, not tourists and illegal aliens,” John Fabbricatore, retired member of the Senior Executive Service and former Field Office Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said on social media. “No more anchor babies.”

The Center for Immigration studies estimated 225,000-250,000 babies of illegal immigrants and 70,000 babies of tourists were born on U.S. soil in 2023 and granted immediate citizenship.

“You'll have, say, a Chinese woman fly over to America on a tourist visa who happens to be eight and a half months pregnant and she comes over just for the purpose of having the baby here so that baby magically becomes a U.S. citizen. That doesn’t make any sense. That’s not a rational immigration system,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas said. 

Further details regarding the Senate hearing, including witness names, had not been disclosed as of publication. 

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 1 in the the Trump v. Barbara case that challenges President Donald Trump's January 20, 2025, executive order meant to end birthright citizenship.