AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Birthright citizenship is making headlines again. That is because President Trump has signed two new executive orders focused on ending what is referred to in those orders as, quote, "birth tourism." The move comes weeks after the Supreme Court ruled that the president's previous attempt was unconstitutional. To talk about the implication of these latest efforts, we're joined now by NPR's Juliana Kim. Hi, Juliana.
JULIANA KIM, BYLINE: Hi there.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so just begin by telling us, what did these new orders say exactly?
KIM: The first order looks to expand the categories of people who are ineligible for birthright citizenship. That would include children of foreign government employees who are in the U.S. - think embassy or consulate staff. It would also restrict birthright citizenship for children whose parents were, quote, "engaging in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship," end quote. Trump has talked about this issue for years, that women are misrepresenting their intentions of travel when they visit the U.S. in order to give birth here so that their newborn can receive automatic citizenship. This is also referred to as birth tourism. Now, the scale of this issue has been widely debated. That being said, the second executive order is all about cracking down on birth tourism, and one of the ways is by revoking the travel visa to anyone suspected of engaging in the practice.
CHANG: OK, so put this in plain terms for us. If these orders play out, what kind of impact do you think we're expecting here?
KIM: Right. The executive orders that were signed yesterday didn't exactly explain how they would be enforced. It does direct federal agencies to issue public guidance on this over the next 30 days, but, you know, legal experts believe these orders will be quickly challenged. I'll also add that, you know, willfully misrepresenting the purpose of travel is already considered visa fraud in the U.S., and Trump, back in his first term, instructed the State Department to deny visas to pregnant women if officials believed they were engaging in birth tourism.
CHANG: Well, do we even know about the real numbers of so-called birth tourism?
KIM: Trump yesterday claimed hundreds of thousands of people are engaging in birth tourism. Now, the State Department doesn't track this. And the estimates that we do have suggest that tourist births make up less than 2% of the 3.6 million babies born in the U.S. every year. And it's why immigration advocates argue that birth tourism is being blown out of proportion. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you know, there were fewer than 10,000 babies born in the U.S. to foreign residents in 2024. Meanwhile, the Center for Immigration Studies is a group that supports restricting immigration, and by their estimate, temporary visitors gave birth to about 70,000 babies in 2023.
CHANG: Well, Juliana, you mentioned that these orders will likely get challenged in court. I mean, so many of President Trump's executive orders have been challenged. So let me ask you, do you think that these newest orders are going to be upheld after litigation?
KIM: Yeah, you know, all of this is happening in the backdrop of the Supreme Court striking down Trump's previous attempt at limiting birthright citizenship. The court also reaffirmed that birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. Now, you know, the current order is more narrow in scope, and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf also says that none of what the administration is doing right now conflicts with the Supreme Court rulings. That being said, some legal experts disagree. The ACLU put out a statement also recently saying any executive order that tries to undermine birthright citizenship will, quote, "meet the same fate as the last one," end quote.
CHANG: That is NPR's Juliana Kim. Thank you, Juliana.
KIM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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