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President Trump targeted birthright citizenship again Thursday by signing a pair of executive orders purporting to narrow it \u2014 including by cracking down on \u201cbirth tourism\u201d and limiting which children born to immigrants in the U.S. qualify.<\/p>\n
The new orders follow a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that rejected an attempt by Trump to end birthright citizenship outright.<\/p>\n
During a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump called that decision by the high court \u201cvery unfair\u201d and said the new orders were an attempt to end birthright citizenship by other means.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country suffers because of it, and we\u2019re ending it a different way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Trump promised \u201cbig crackdowns\u201d on birth tourism, or the practice of pregnant foreign mothers coming to the United States, or foreign fathers using surrogates already in the U.S., specifically to ensure their children receive U.S. citizenship.<\/p>\n
Trump said an entire industry has been built up around the practice, turning birthright citizenship into \u201ca joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWealthy people are building businesses around birthright citizenship. That\u2019s not the way it\u2019s supposed to work. It\u2019s a disgrace,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re buying their way in, and we\u2019re not going to let it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The orders were immediately criticized by proponents of birthright citizenship as an indefensible attempt by the president and his administration to make an end run around the Supreme Court\u2019s clear finding that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution cannot be undone by the president.<\/p>\n
The justices said Trump may not revise the Constitution and change citizenship laws in an executive order.<\/p>\n
The amendment reads in part, \u201cAll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an apparent response to the president\u2019s new orders, California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted that exact language to the social media platform X. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) also responded on the platform, writing, \u201cTrump doesn\u2019t understand the Constitution \u2014 but the 14th Amendment\u2019s promise of birthright citizenship and equality speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that Trump\u2019s \u201ccontinued crusade to end birthright citizenship is blatantly illegal,\u201d that Democrats would challenge the orders, and that the president had \u201cset himself up for yet another loss in the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are born in America, you are American \u2014 period. The Constitution says it and the Supreme Court has affirmed it,\u201d Schumer said.<\/p>\n