US President Donald Trump has sought to revoke the birthright citizenship with a flurry of executive order just after starting his second term. In the list of Presidential Actions on the White House website, the order title protecting the meaning and value of American Citizenship specifies that those born in the US but not subject to the jurisdiction thereof aren’t included in birthright citizenship. As the US president signed the executive order for this, the future millions of H1 B vias B-holding Indians now hang in limbo.
According to the new order, the US will provide automatic citizenship to newborn babies after 19th February 2025. A child born in the US will not be granted the country’s citizenship automatically unless at least one parent is a US citizen or holds a green card. It also prohibits federal agencies from recognizing relevant documentation providing US citizenship for such children. The purpose of this order is to target children born to unauthorized immigrants and people living in the US legally but on temporary vias.
During the inauguration speech, Trump said that all illegal entries would be stopped immediately and they would soon begin the process of returning millions of illegal people to the places from where they came. The heads of different executive departments and agencies have been asked to issue public guidance within 30 days of the date of the order regarding implementation.
Birthright citizenship came from the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, it was ratified in 1868, three years after the conclusion of the American Civil War ended the practice of enslaving Black people in Southern states.
The Impact on the Indian-Americans
As per the data of Paw Research, around 250,000 babies born to immigrant parents in the US in 2016 were not authorized. It shows a reduction of 36% from a peak in 2007. In the year 2022, there are a total of 1.2m US citizens born to unauthorized parents. These children also have children, hence revoking birthright citizens would ultimately increase the number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation.
The new law will affect people legally living in the US including students, tourists, and those living on temporary work visas like H-1B. This news will affect more than a million Indian Americans who are currently waiting for green cards. Data says that over a million Indians are waiting for their green card applications to be processed.
Trump’s executive order for revoking birthright citizenship for children of H1B visa holders will affect their future. Without automatic citizenship, they may lose access to in-state tuition, scholarships, and federal support.
The Key Reason behind the Decision
Trump said that he wishes to revoke birthright citizenship because he wants to discourage illegal immigration.
He argued that nationals of countries with the highest number of immigrants to the US, including India and China particularly exploited this system.
Once Trump said he did not want to be breaking up families. The only way to not break the family and keep them together, we will have to send them all back.