Nigerians, others affected as Trump signs order to curb birthright citizenship ‘tourism’

US President Donald Trump on Thursday made another attempt to curb birthright citizenship, signing an order targeting those who he said enter the country under the guise of tourism while actually intending to give birth.

“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office.

The US Supreme Court struck down his previous effort to restrict the constitutionally granted right in a late June ruling that Trump described as “very unfortunate.”

“We’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair,” he said.

The president signed an executive order last year decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.

Lower courts blocked the move, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen.

The Supreme Court agreed in a majority opinion penned by Chief Justice John Roberts that was joined by two other conservative-leaning justices and the three liberal-leaning justices.

Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship is part of his wider campaign to limit immigration, which includes expelling millions of undocumented migrants and removing deportation protections from nationals of more than a dozen countries.

The 14th Amendment states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

It does not apply to those not subject to US jurisdiction — the children of foreign diplomats, for example — and under US law, visas can already be denied if a consular officer believes the applicant is traveling to the country for the primary purpose of giving birth.

AFP