Times of India :
One of the top priorities of Donald Trump, the incoming US president is to end automatic citizenship for children. The plan, posted on the official Trump-Vance campaign site, is to sign an executive order to this effect on Day 1 itself.
If one takes a closer look, automatic citizenship for children will not end just for children born to illegal immigrants. It goes much further.
The draft executive order reads: “It will direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic US citizens.”
An annual limit for employment-based green cards pegged at 140k plus any unused family-sponsored green cards that are passed on to this category, with a per-country limit of 7% has led to this backlog.
While the draft of executive order states it is interpreting the 14th amendment to the US Constitution correctly, immigration advocates think otherwise and say the executive order if passed will be challenged in the courts.
Rajiv S Khanna, an Indian immigration attorney told Times of India (TOI): “The Trump plan suggests no automatic citizenship for children born in the US. This is almost certainly a contravention of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. A Supreme Court judgment is available to counter Trump’s misinterpretation.”
Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney added: “This will certainly be litigated as it violates the 14th Amendment. We will have to see if they go so far as to exclude children of people legally in the US.”
When it comes to employment linked green cards, the overall cap is set at 140,000 per year plus any unused family-sponsored green cards that can be passed on to this category. In addition to the annual caps, be it for employment or family based green cards, no country can receive more than 7% of the green cards. This adversely impacts those in the employment linked category.
