Gaetz Introduces Legislation to End ‘Unqualified’ Birthright Citizenship
Miranda Nazzaro, The Hill, July 25, 2023
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would end “unqualified” birthright citizenship for children whose parents are not themselves U.S. citizens.
The legislation, titled the “End Birthright Citizenship Fraud Act of 2023,” would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act “to reflect the original intent of the 14th Amendment’s ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ clause,” according to a statement on the measure.
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{snip} Gaetz’s legislation would deny automatic citizenship at birth to children born in the U.S. to parents who are not U.S. citizens, while “excluding aliens lawfully admitted as refugees or permanent residents or performing active services in the U.S. Armed Forces.”
The bill claims birthright citizenship has “enabled an entire black market,” citing estimates of 33,000 births to women on tourist visas annually, and “hundreds of thousands more” born to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas, “many of whom have misrepresented the purpose of their trip to avoid scrutiny.”
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“Birthright citizenship has been grossly misapplied for decades, recently becoming a loophole for illegal aliens to fraudulently abuse our immigration system,” Gaetz said in a statement {snip} “American citizenship is a privilege — not an automatic right to be co-opted by illegal aliens.”
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