E-Newsletter

At the close of June, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) weighed in on various issues that impact the country.

Perhaps the SCOTUS decision to receive the most media attention is Trump v. Barbara. This case concerns the Citizenship Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Citizenship Clause specifically states, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The Trump Administration challenged this definition to argue the Citizenship Clause does not apply to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants. Through Executive action on birthright citizenship, automatic U.S. citizenship would not apply to these newborns.

Trump’s Executive action became the subject of SCOTUS scrutiny in Trump v. Barbara. 

SCOTUS ruled against the Administration. Whether we like it or not, absent a Constitutional amendment, birthright citizenship will remain in place for the U.S. States.

However, this ruling does not address the birthright citizenship process in the U.S. territories.

Citizenship in the territories is distinct from that of the States.

Currently, four of the five inhabited U.S. territories have been granted U.S. citizenship by laws passed in Congress. These are Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

These four territories exercise these powers because Congress extended such rights in statute through laws like the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The Northern Mariana Islands have acquired such rights through a different statutory mechanism.

The U.S. territory of American Samoa is the lone exception. Those born in this territory are considered American nationals but have not been granted citizenship status by Congress.

Accordingly, birthright citizenship does not apply currently in American Samoa.

The application under the Barbara case of birthright citizenship in the U.S. territories differs from what is established in the 50 U.S. States according to Supreme Court cases.

The birthright discrepancy between the territories and the States dates to legal cases beginning in the early 20^th century known as the Insular Cases.

Generally, these cases governed which constitutional protections apply in U.S. territories.

Additionally, since 2010, two federal courts of appeals cases have rejected the notion that those born in the U.S. territories access the same automatic rights by virtue of the Constitution as those in the U.S. states.

Thus, the Barbara case leaves the door open for Congressional action on citizenship in the American territories. I am leading a bill to crack down on abuse of birthright citizenship in the territories. This bill should stop the so-called “birth tourism” that is taking place in the American territories.

Because of the current birthright laws in place in the territories, any child born in a U.S. territory (minus American Samoa) accesses U.S. citizenship automatically.

Accordingly, business in the “birth tourism” industry, which Justice Clarence Thomas references in his dissent of Trump v. Barbara, empowers groups to exploit U.S. citizenship laws for personal gain. 

A New York Post article this year notes estimates of roughly 1,000 companies that offer “birth tourism” services.

One of the referenced China-based “birth tourism” companies advertises with the slogan “Create beautiful memories while having an American baby.”

“Birth tourists” and their babies later return to the parent’s country of origin. But by providing U.S. citizenship to their child, one day their child can access the benefits that U.S. citizenship has to offer.

That can come in the form of work, education, voting in federal elections and more. 

This is outrageous and I am working on a legislative fix.

Just like Congress possesses the power to grant the territories Constitutional rights in statute, we have the power to take them away in statute.

Whereas under Barbara a Constitutional amendment would be needed to change birthright citizenship in the 50 U.S. states, a simple statutory reform for the U.S. territories is a realistic solution with real world implications.

Accordingly, I am leading the charge in Congress to rectify this problem, clarify U.S. citizenship laws in the territories and combat foreign nationals who are exploiting loopholes in our citizenship laws to take advantage of U.S. generosity.

My bill would stop “birth tourism” in the U.S. territories!

While this change is limited to the territories, it is the only step we can currently take to effectively protect U.S. citizenship.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office.  You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at https://morgangriffith.house.gov/. Also on my website is the latest material from my office, including information on votes recently taken on the floor of the House of Representatives. 

 

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