US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning birthright citizenship as he prepares for a battle with the Supreme Court on the matter.
In a move to combat "birth tourism", Mr Trump has signed two executive orders which deny citizenship to people who are born in the US, but have foreign parents.
One of his top priorities while in office, the US President's plans were rejected by the Supreme Court in June, which ruled the right was protected under the Constitution.
Mr Trump was joined today by Stephen Miller, the developer of the President's deportation plan, unveiling two orders focusing on limiting birthright citizenship rights and "birth tourism".
The first order will identify "certain categories of child of aliens who are not entitled to birthright citizenship", Axios reports, which are as follows:
- Children of foreign diplomatic staffers.
- Children of people who are classified as foreign enemies, including those who are proscribed as a terrorist group a federal level.
- Children born in US territories, but the law allowing automatic citizenship must be changed by Congress (a Bill relating to this was introduced last month but is not expected to be successful).
- Children born to mothers who have entered the US for the sole purpose of gaining birthright citizenship for her child, also known as "birth tourism".
Mr Trump has signed the executive orders into order to tackle "birth tourism" schemes in the US
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A separate executive order instructs the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security to draw up new rules aimed at cracking down on birth tourism, targeting the practice both within the US and internationally.
It is already illegal in America to obtain a tourist visa with the main purpose of securing American citizenship for a child through birth on US soil.
Immigration officials also have the power to refuse entry to a pregnant foreign national if they believe she is travelling to the US specifically to give birth there.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating "birth tourism" operations.
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Mr Trump with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf today
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It requested a range of documents in May from a company called "Have My Baby in Miami".
The Committee argued American citizenship carries unique value, and raised concerns that the industry could pose national security and election integrity risks.
Most foreign mothers travelling for this purpose come from China and Russia, the Committee claimed.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee previously examined the issue in a 2022 report of its own.
Estimates of how many children have been born in the US as a result of birth tourism vary widely, ranging from the low thousands to tens of thousands.
Mr Trump has repeatedly highlighted birth tourism as part of his broader and so far unsuccessful, attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
Writing on Truth Social in March, he said birthright citizenship "is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World" paying for their children to become US citizens.
Mr Trump told reporters today he believed the executive orders were legal, despite the Supreme Court ruling.
Mr Miller weighed in, saying: "As the president mentioned, the 14th Amendment was passed exclusively in the aftermath of the Civil War, so that to ensure that the children of slaves would be citizens.
"It had no other meaning and purpose outside of that, and that's been clear, obviously, since the day that it was passed.
"This is not something that is even seriously contested by anybody."
The Supreme Court has ruled that babies born on US soil have a constitutional right to citizenship at the end of June.
In a 6-3 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts found children born in the US to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are "citizens at birth" under the 14th Amendment.