President Donald Trump signed two executive orders targeting “birth tourism” and narrowing birthright citizenship eligibility. This follows a previous Supreme Court decision that struck down an earlier attempt by his administration to curb automatic citizenship for certain children born on US.
The move is part of Trump’s broader effort to tighten US immigration rules and could affect Nigerians and other foreign nationals who travel to the country to have their children.
Trump had previously signed an executive order seeking to deny automatic US citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or are in the US. on temporary visas.
However, lower courts blocked the measure, citing the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which provides that people born or naturalised in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens.
US authorities can also deny visas when they determine that an applicant’s primary reason for travelling to the country is to give birth.
Trump’s latest move comes amid a broader immigration crackdown that includes plans to deport millions of undocumented migrants and remove deportation protections for nationals of more than a dozen countries.
Radio Nigeria