United States President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order targeting what his administration describes as “birth tourism,” renewing efforts to limit birthright citizenship despite previous legal setbacks.
Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office, Trump accused some foreign nationals of entering the United States on tourist visas primarily to give birth so their children can automatically obtain American citizenship.
The president acknowledged that the US Supreme Court had rejected an earlier attempt by his administration to restrict the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, describing the ruling as “very unfortunate.”
According to the White House, the new executive order is aimed at preventing individuals from exploiting the US immigration system through birth tourism while also tightening eligibility for birthright citizenship in certain cases.
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Trump’s senior adviser, Stephen Miller, said the order would also seek to deny birthright citizenship to other categories of people, including children of members of what he described as “foreign terrorist organisations” and individuals acting on behalf of foreign governments.
The latest directive follows an executive order Trump signed last year declaring that children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas would no longer automatically qualify for US citizenship.
However, federal courts blocked the policy, ruling that it conflicts with the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on American soil.
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(Editor: Ebuwa Omo-Osagie)
