Washington: A group of some Republican Party MPs in the US has introduced a bill in the upper house of Parliament, the Senate, to ban the granting of birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants and non-immigrants living in the country on temporary visas.
Earlier, children of immigrants used to get US citizenship as soon as they were born. But now a bill called Birthright Citizenship Act 2025 has been introduced. With this, children of immigrants will now stop getting US citizenship by birth even if they are born here.
According to the senators Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Katie Britt, who introduced it, illegal immigrants come to America mainly because of birthright citizenship and this is a threat to national security. They said that America is one of the 33 countries in the world where there is no restriction on birthright citizenship. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in this regard on the first day of his tenure, which has been blocked by a federal judge in Washington state.
Initiatives to curb illegal migration
The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 2,25,000 to 2,50,000 children will be born to illegal immigrants in 2025, which is about seven percent of those born in the US. Graham said that it is too late to change the birthright citizenship policy in the US and it is being misused in many ways. Graham said, “I also appreciate President Trump’s executive order related to birthright citizenship. Now the time has come for America to join the rest of the world and ban this practice forever.” At the same time, Britt said, “Illegal migration should not be encouraged due to the promise of American citizenship, but this is what has been happening for a very long time.” (Language)
