Citizenship By Birth In USA from Vajirao & Reddy Institute

CITIZENSHIP BY BIRTH IN USA

• In January 2025, After starting his 2nd term as President, Donald Trump signed many executive orders, including a controversial one to end birthright citizenship.
• This means that children born in the U.S. will not automatically become U.S. citizens if their parents are not citizens or lawful permanent residents.
• This change will have a major effect on the Indian-American community, which is one of the largest and fastest-growing immigrant groups in the U.S.
• As per the executive order, The S. will not give automatic citizenship to babies born after February 19, 2025, if a parent is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.

RECENT LEGAL DEVELOPMENT

• On January 23, 2025, S. District Judge John Coughenour, from Seattle, temporarily blocked an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
• The legal challenge came from four Democratic-led states: Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon.
• These states filed a lawsuit to prevent the executive order from taking effect, arguing that it went against the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to any child born on U.S. soil “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”.

WHAT IS BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP?

• Birthright citizenship means that any child born on the soil of a country automatically gets that country’s citizenship, no matter the parents' nationality or immigration status.
• In the United States, birthright citizenship has been guaranteed since the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868, which says that anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. is a citizen.

HISTORY OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

• Early History (Pre-Revolutionary Period to 1788):
  • Before S. independence in 1776, the concept of citizenship was determined by the individual colonies.
  • However, the idea began to grow that anyone born on U.S. soil could be considered a citizen.
  • After independence, the S. Constitution (ratified in 1788) mentioned the concept of “natural born citizens” in Article 2, but did not clearly define it. It was assumed that the term included both:
    • Jus soli (right of the soil): Citizenship for those born on U.S. soil.
    • Jus sanguinis (right of the blood): Citizenship for those born outside the U.S. to U.S. citizen parents.
• Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):
  • The S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that slaves brought to the U.S. were not U.S. citizens, even if they were born on U.S. soil.
  • The ruling also denied citizenship to the descendants of enslaved people.
  • This decision made the issue of citizenship even more divisive until after the Civil War.
• The 14th Amendment (1866):
  • After the Civil War, in 1866, Congress passed the 14th Amendment to ensure that freed slaves and their descendants would be granted U.S. citizenship.
  • The important part of the 14th Amendment says:
    • "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
  • While this granted citizenship to former slaves, the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" caused confusion, leading to debates about whether children born to foreign nationals or people who weren’t legally in the U.S. would be citizens.

TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER

• Trump’s executive order, titled “Ending Birthright Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants and Temporary Visa Holders”, proposes that:
  • A child born in the U.S. will only become a citizen if at least one of the parents is:
    • A S. citizen.
    • A Green Card holder (legal permanent resident).
    • Serving in the S. military.
  • For example, if a child’s mother is in the U.S. temporarily (e.g., on a work or tourist visa), and the father is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, the child will not be granted citizenship.
• Specific Exclusions in the Order

The order says that birthright citizenship will not apply to:

• Children born to parents who are unlawfully present in the U.S.
• Children born to parents who are in the U.S. on temporary visas (such as H-1B for work, F-1 for students, or B-2 for tourists) would not get citizenship).
• The order argues that the 14th Amendment was never meant to apply to people who are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., such as undocumented immigrants or people with temporary visas.

TIMING & SCOPE

• The order is set to take effect 30 days after being signed by President Trump.
• The order does not apply retroactively, meaning people who are already U.S. citizens will not lose their citizenship.
• The Trump administration has stated that they will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants and will also increase screening for immigrants.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT INDIANS IN THE USA?

• As of 2024, there are around 5.4 million Indian-Americans in the U.S., making up about 1.47% of the U.S. population.
• Two-thirds of Indian-Americans are first-generation immigrants, meaning they were born outside of the U.S., while the rest are U.S.-born citizens.
• Many Indian-Americans live in the U.S. on temporary work visas, like the H-1B visa, which is for skilled workers in technology, healthcare, and other sectors
• If this executive order is carried out, children born in the U.S. to Indian parents on temporary visas like H-1B (for skilled workers) or H-4 (for dependent family members) would no longer automatically become U.S. citizens.
• This is a big change, as children born to Indian parents in these visa categories are usually granted S. citizenship under current laws.
• This could impact hundreds of thousands of children born to Indian parents in the U.S. each year, making their future uncertain in terms of citizenship.
• Many Indian immigrants have been waiting for years to receive a Green Card (permanent residency).
• There are huge backlogs, particularly for employment-based Green Cards.
• Over a million Indians have been waiting for more than 10 years for a Green Card.
• If birthright citizenship is revoked, children born in the U.S. to Indian parents on temporary visas will not be able to sponsor their parents for permanent residency once they turn 21—something that many families relied on for years.
• Indian students make up one of the largest groups of international students in the U.S. According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), there were over 200,000 Indian students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities as of 2023.
• Birth tourism is when foreign nationals, including Indians, travel to the U.S. to give birth so their child can automatically become a S. citizen.
• This executive order will likely reduce birth tourism, especially among people from India and Mexico, as it would deny citizenship to children born under these circumstances.
• As Indian Express reports, Indians are among the highest groups using birth tourism to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.

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