Trump Makes Another Attempt To End Birthright Citizenship

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Thursday aimed at cracking down on the abuse of birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier attempt to end it. The Supreme Court in June ruled against Trump's earlier executive order seeking to deny citizenship to the children born to noncitizens on American soil. Administration officials have argued that the new proposed limits are permitted under the high court's ruling. "They've taken birthright citizenship and they've made a joke out of it," Trump said during a signing event in the Oval Office on Thursday. "I thought we would've won it at the Supreme Court, unfortunately we had a bad decision, very unfair decision," he said. "Our country suffers because of it and we're ending it a different way." The first executive order directs federal agencies to take steps aimed at preventing foreigners from exploiting birthright citizenship through birth tourism and certain surrogacy arrangements. It also seeks to exempt children born to foreign government agents and individuals classified as "alien enemies" from automatic birthright citizenship for children born in U.S. territories. Trump's second executive order directs the State Department to deny tourist visas to foreigners who intend to travel to the United States to give birth for the purpose of securing American citizenship for their children. Such immigration fraud is already illegal in the United States. Immigration officers also have the authority to deny entry for pregnant foreigners determined to be entering the country to give birth. Foreign nationals have long exploited birthright citizenship to access the benefits of the American system. Across the country, birthing centers have operated for the sole purpose of helping foreigners give birth to American babies. During Thursday's signing event, Trump estimated that "hundreds of thousands" of foreigners have exploited birthright citizenship. One of the centers, De'Ai Postpartum Care Center in Houston, is the subject of a state lawsuit in Texas for allegedly "exploiting birthright citizenship by unlawfully facilitating the invasion of Chinese nationals … for the sole purpose of giving birth." The clinic has said it has facilitated 1,000 births.