U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders at a ceremony in the Oval Office aimed at changing the practice of granting citizenship to children born in the country.
The first order expands the categories of people who would not be eligible for birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The measure covers children born in the United States to parents who entered the country illegally or who live and work there on temporary visas.
The second order signed by Trump seeks to ban birth tourism, which involves people traveling to the United States on temporary visas so that their children can acquire citizenship.
Trump criticizes the practice
Before the signing, Trump criticized birthright citizenship and argued that the practice was intended for the children of slaves. Saying that people had built businesses around it, Trump said the current system was not the arrangement that should be in place.
Trump also described the U.S. Supreme Court's latest decisions on birthright citizenship as unfair. The U.S. president said this was why they were making the changes.
The Supreme Court's June ruling
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the current practice should continue on the grounds that birthright citizenship is protected by the Constitution.
The executive order Trump issued on the first day of his second presidential term also sought to prevent citizenship from being granted to babies born in the country to parents who entered illegally or who live and work in the United States on temporary visas.