Hours after officially becoming the 47th President of the US, Donald Trump declared that starting in 30 days his government will not treat children born in the US, whose parents entered the country illegally, as citizens. This move by Trump will officially end the constitutional birthright citizenship.
The executive order stated that Trump would interpret the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution differently as compared to how it was done in the past. In the order, Trump said it “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” This change opposes the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, which has been in the US Constitution for over 150 years. According to it, anyone who is born in the US is automatically given American citizenship.
Trump’s order of scrapping citizenship by birth in the US would mean that children born in the US to illegal immigrants or those whose mother and father are not authorised to be in the US at the time of their birth would not automatically get US citizenship.
Trump’s executive order to revoke birthright citizenship has sparked debates, especially affecting those on H-1B visas, with many Indians impacted. The hashtag #H1B is trending on X, with people sharing their reactions through memes and witty posts.
How will Donald Trump’s scrapping of citizenship by birth in the US affect H-1B visa or green card holders?
For legal immigrants, the executive order further read, “The privilege of US citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the US: When the mother’s presence in the US at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the US under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a US citizen or lawful permanent resident (which means a green card holder) at the time of said person’s birth.”
A report by Pew Research that analysed the US Census in 2022, states that roughly 4.8 Indian Americans live in the US, of which roughly 1.6 million were born in the US which made them American citizens. With the new law in place, children who are not born in the US and whose parents are caught in a green card backlog will now have to be deported when they turn 21 or they’ll have to get another visa to be in the country.
Talking about the development and how it could affect families with H-1B visa or green card, New York-based immigration attorney–Cyrus D. Mehta told TOI, “If both parents are in the US in a non-immigrant status, such as in H-1B and H-4 (dependant visa) status, under Trump’s EO the State Department will not issue a US passport to the child as they are no longer regarded as ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’. This EO will obviously be challenged in court, but I can see the Trump administration taking this all the way to the Supreme Court in the hope that the majority of conservative justices could agree with Trump’s new interpretation of the 14th Amendment.”
Commenting on how it would affect millions of Indian Americans in the US, he added, “If the courts agree with Trump’s interpretation, going forward children of H-1B and H-4 non-immigrants who are born in the US, will not be recognized as US citizens. There is a ripple impact. Many Indians are caught in 100-year employment-linked green card backlogs, and so their only hope was for their child born in the US to sponsor them, when he/she attained 21 years. Now this will not be possible”
Another thing to notice in Trump’s executive order was his choice of words. After sharing that the country would only recognise two genders, male or female, in his inaugural day speech, Trump has used the words “mother” and “father” in the executive order thus emphasising that only heterosexual couples and their families will be recognised by law.
