The United State Department has proposed new rules requiring parents to provide proof of their US citizenship or lawful immigration status when applying for a US passport for their children, according to a Reuters report.
Under the proposed rules, a US birth certificate alone would no longer be sufficient. Parents could be required to submit additional documents, such as an I-94 form or a green card, to establish their citizenship or immigration status.
The proposed guidance is part of President Donald Trump’s latest effort to restrict the scope of birthright citizenship. The administration has also cited the need to curb so-called “birth tourism”, in which foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth so their children can obtain US citizenship.
According to the State Department, the information would be used to determine whether a child born in the United States qualifies for citizenship under Trump’s August 6 executive order.
The proposed rules could also affect children whose parents include individuals working for a foreign government in the United States, those involved in fraud or commercial transactions aimed at obtaining citizenship, or individuals designated as “foreign enemies.”
Under the current system, parents applying for a US passport for a child generally provide proof of their relationship to the child and identification documents. Although applicants are asked to state whether they are US citizens, additional documentation to substantiate that claim is not generally mandatory.
The Trump administration’s efforts to restrict birthright citizenship have previously faced legal challenges. An earlier presidential order sought to deny automatic citizenship to some children born in the US unless at least one parent was a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.
That effort has been challenged in federal courts, with lawyers arguing that restrictions on citizenship for US-born children violate the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Legal challenges against Trump’s latest executive order are also pending in several federal courts, with attorneys seeking to block measures that could affect the citizenship of children born in the United States.
Meanwhile, Justice Department lawyers have argued that requests for court intervention are premature because federal agencies have not yet issued formal public guidance on implementing the president’s directives.
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