President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Thursday that end birth tourism and expand the definition of who does not qualify for birthright citizenship.
The orders come on the heels of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in the Trump v. Barbara case in June that ruled birthright citizenship is a right under the Constitution.
“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright. It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” Trump said.
“This was done for a different reason. This was done right after the Civil War. This was for the babies of slaves, and what’s happening now? People are building businesses around it,” he added.
The White House explained:
The first Executive Order non-exhaustively identifies certain categories of children of aliens who are not entitled to birthright citizenship consistent with historical exceptions to birthright citizenship recognized by the Supreme Court in Barbara.
The second Executive Order delegates presidential authorities to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security and directs them to halt the practice of birth tourism.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the order ending birthright tourism is within the president’s power under Section 215A of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“This has been something that people have talked about not only for years but for decades,” Miller said.
“The idea that people come here pretending to be a tourist, pretending to be a visitor, saying they want to go to Disneyland, they want to go visit a monument or go to a national park, but the real reason they’re here is to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen, leave our country, and then have a U.S. citizen child,” he continued.
“It gives them access under this broken system to welfare benefits, ultimately to the voting booth, and all the other rights and privileges that belong solely to Americans. So that practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned,” he added. “And what that means is that no one in the world is any more allowed to obtain a visa for this fraudulent purpose.”
Miller said this order is one of the most important actions Trump has ever taken on immigration.
“I would put this in the top three in terms of importance because it ends what has been one of the gravest and most egregious abuses of the American system, and it keeps American citizenship sacred,” he said.
The order relating to birthright citizenship broadens definitions of children of aliens who are not eligible for birthright citizenship.
“That includes, for example, alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments,” Miller said.
“And so, with taking this action, it ensures that large numbers of people who wrongly would be getting birthright citizenship will no longer be eligible for those benefits,” he added.
Trump also signed a proclamation establishing a minimum import price program on polysilicon and polysilicon derivatives imports to protect American producers of such products. It also imposes a 15 percent tariff on derivative products to encourage these industries to be brought to the United States, the White House said.
“This is a series of trade and tariff actions under Section 232, intended to ensure that domestic polysilicon manufacturing is properly supported and protected from overseas dumping and offshore threats,” White House staff secretary Will Scharf said.
Polysilicon is critical to making silicon wafers found in chips that are essential to artificial intelligence, including phones.
“So the president’s policies have brought 50 percent of production into America, but we need the foundational products made here. Otherwise, you know, we’re making the products here, but we need the supply chain here,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
