A few hours after being sworn in on January 20, United States President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders to fulfill his campaign promises.
Among them was the order banning automatic citizenship for those born in the United States.
Called "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," Trump's executive order denies citizenship to babies born in the U.S. to parents who are neither citizens nor legal permanent residents.
The executive order, which takes effect in 30 days, namely on February 19, could affect tens of thousands of children born each year in the US to parents who do not have legal status, including children of people who have been granted asylum but are not yet permanent residents, as well as those of foreign nationals who have been granted long-term work permits, H-1B.
Human rights groups, who anticipated Trump's move, filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the order from taking effect.
According to them, he is cruel in the face of what the US represents.
Some 22 Democratic-led states, along with the District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco, also filed lawsuits.
Jayesh Rathod, a law professor and director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at American University in Washington College of Law, tells Radio Free Europe that the case could reach the Supreme Court.
"I think the issue is becoming a test case, going through the federal courts. I wouldn't be surprised if the Supreme Court were to consider it," Rathod says.
The history of slaves
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution - adopted in 1868, three years after the abolition of slavery - states that "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."
This amendment overturned an 1857 Supreme Court decision that held that African Americans were not U.S. citizens because of their race.
The current interpretation of the 14th Amendment - which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, except the children of diplomats - stems from an 1898 lawsuit filed by Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to legal Chinese immigrants.
After a trip to China, Ark was denied re-entry into the United States, on the grounds that he was not a citizen.
He sued, arguing that he was a citizen under the 14th Amendment, and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, thus setting a precedent.
Over the years, the law was abused, especially by wealthy citizens of unstable or repressive foreign countries, who sent their wives or girlfriends to the US on tourist visas to give birth, with the aim of automatically obtaining US citizenship for the children.
The tactic became so widespread that it began to be called "eastern tourism."
The Center for Immigration Studies - a research organization that advocates for immigration restrictions - estimated that from mid-2016 to mid-2017, 33,000 children were born in the United States to foreign women on tourist visas.
After receiving the baby's passport, these women usually leave to raise their children in their own countries.
In January 2019, during Trump's first term, US prosecutors filed federal charges for the first time against operators of a "birth tourism" business.
In that case, 19 people were indicted for running a business that charged Chinese citizens tens of thousands of dollars to be born in California.
That same year, the AP news agency reported that hundreds of pregnant Russian women go to Florida each year to give birth.
Parents can acquire US citizenship when their children become adults.
American citizenship is coveted because of the opportunities the country offers. In addition, American passport holders can also receive support from local US embassies in the event of arrest or other crisis in their home country.
But "birth tourism" only includes some babies born to non-US citizens. The rest include those seeking asylum or applying for citizenship.
Trump, who made anti-immigration policies a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, spoke out against automatic US citizenship for babies born to foreign nationals even in his first term, but took no legal action.
Experts say Trump, who was new to politics when he won the 2016 election, has carefully planned the controversial legislation over the past four years in case of a possible return to the White House.
The Trump administration is focusing on six words of the 14th Amendment, claiming they exclude citizenship at birth for children of parents who are neither legal permanent residents nor citizens.
"The 14th Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to anyone born within the United States. The 14th Amendment has always excluded from citizenship at birth persons who were born in the United States but who are not 'subject to its jurisdiction,'" the administration said in a statement issued on January 20.
Trump's executive order specifically denies citizenship to babies born to mothers who are in the United States illegally and fathers who are neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents.
It also denies citizenship to babies born to mothers who are legally in the United States but temporarily - whether on a tourist, work or study visa - and fathers who are neither US citizens nor lawful permanent residents.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other immigrant rights groups immediately filed suit, denouncing the executive order as unconstitutional and inhumane.
“The right to birthright citizenship is guaranteed by our Constitution and is absolutely fundamental to what America stands for,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the Immigrant Rights Project at the ACLU and lead attorney in the case.
"Denying citizenship to babies born on American soil is illegal, deeply cruel, and contrary to our values as a country," he added.
In a joint statement, immigrant rights groups warned that Trump's order potentially puts the lives of babies at risk and creates a permanent underclass of people in the United States.
According to them, such children may be denied basic healthcare services at a critical stage in their lives.
"The order will also stigmatize and send a message of exclusion not only to the children directly affected by it, but also to many others whose citizenship will be questioned, because of their race or their parents. Excluding people born here will also create a permanent underclass of those who have never been to another country and may be left stateless," the statement said.
The White House Challenge
While lawmakers have repeatedly introduced legislation to end universal citizenship in the East, Rathod says Trump's challenge to the interpretation of the 14th Amendment could be the first from the White House.
Arguments for narrowing the scope of the Amendment have permeated conservative circles for decades, but are coming to the fore now as anti-immigration sentiment grows and the Supreme Court leans to the right, Rathod says.
"The administration is using these arguments because it thinks it has the opportunity to change the law," he said./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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