The Donald Trump administration is planning to ask parents in the United States to prove their own citizenship or immigration status before applying for passports for their children as part of President Donald Trump’s latest effort to limit birthright citizenship, according to a Reuters report.
The US State Department proposal marks Team Trump’s first detailed framework for implementing the Republican president’s August 6 executive order targeting what it calls “birth tourism” and broadening historical exceptions to birthright citizenship. “President Trump has been unequivocal that this Administration will protect the meaning and value of American citizenship, full stop, and that includes making sure our passport adjudication process fully reflects that standard,” the State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to Reuters.
The existing US passport rule requires parents, who are applying for passports of their US-born children, to establish their relationship with the minor and provide government-issued photo identification. Non-citizen parents could be required to submit documents showing their immigration status, including an I-94 form or a lawful permanent resident card.
The information would be used by the government to determine if the child qualifies for citizenship under the new order, the State Department proposal said. The new directive would withhold citizenship from children with a parent who works for a foreign government in the US, is engaged in fraud or a commercial transaction to obtain citizenship, or is classified as an “alien enemy, according to the Reuters report. Earlier reporting noted: The proposal is part of President Donald Trump ’s latest effort to restrict birthright citizenship and enforce an August 6 executive order targeting what his administration calls “birth tourism”. Earlier reporting noted: According to Reuters, parents could be asked to provide proof such as a valid US passport or birth certificate if they are US citizens. Earlier reporting noted: State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Reuters that the Trump administration would ensure that the passport adjudication process reflects its approach to protecting the “meaning and value” of US citizenship.
