The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to strike down an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his second day in office, preserving automatic citizenship for children born in the country. The order aimed to restrict automatic citizenship for children born in U.S. territory to parents without permanent legal status.
Justice Samuel Alito, one of the court's conservative justices, wrote a sharp dissent arguing that the majority misinterpreted the 14th Amendment and that the ruling would produce 'grotesque results.' Alito argued that citizenship by birth should only be granted to individuals who owe complete allegiance to the United States and are not subject to another country.
Highlighting national security concerns, Alito warned that the ruling could be exploited by citizens of hostile foreign nations. In one scenario, he described a foreign mother giving birth in the U.S. and immediately returning to her home country, where the child is raised with animosity toward the U.S. 'Under the court's interpretation, that person is a U.S. citizen. They can enter and leave the country as they please, travel the world on a U.S. passport. Even if they plot to harm the country, under current precedent at least, they cannot be stripped of citizenship,' Alito said.
Alito also stated that birth tourism creates a powerful incentive for illegal immigration, saying, 'While those seeking to immigrate through legal channels sometimes wait for years, a child born here to a birth tourist automatically becomes a citizen.'
Michael Hough, co-president of the immigration reform advocacy group NumbersUSA, supported Alito's views. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Hough referred to a Wall Street Journal report revealing a Chinese tech billionaire had fathered approximately 100 children through surrogacy without ever entering the U.S., arguing that the expansive practice of birthright citizenship dilutes the value of U.S. citizenship and leaves the country vulnerable to hostile foreigners. Hough said, 'Those who drafted the 14th Amendment in the 1860s could never have imagined wealthy foreigners using modern reproductive technology to have children in the U.S. Such questions should be decided by Congress, not judges.'
White House Border Security Coordinator Tom Homan echoed Alito's national security concerns in a statement to Fox News. Homan said, 'Thousands of people are coming from China and Russia, having babies and leaving. Now thousands, if this continues, possibly millions of U.S. citizens could be living in countries we consider hostile. That could affect how the country is governed.'
