Republican candidate Donald Trump emerged victorious over Vice President Kamala Harris, securing 279 electoral votes against her 223. With this win, Trump has become the next President of the United States. One of his key promises, which he plans to implement on his first day in office, involves ending automatic citizenship for children born in the US.
According to the official Trump-Vance campaign website, 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.” This proposed change goes beyond limiting citizenship for children of illegal immigrants; it could affect all children born in the country.
The order claims to uphold the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, though immigration advocates have strongly opposed it. Legal experts argue that such a move would likely face significant challenges in the courts. Rajiv S Khanna, an immigration attorney, told The Times of India, “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 judgement is available to counter Trump’s misinterpretation.”
Greg Siskind, another 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.”
If enacted, the move could have a far-reaching impact on the Indian diaspora in the US Pew Research’s 2022 analysis of US Census data found that approximately 4.8 million Indian Americans reside in the country, with 34 per cent—or 1.6 million—born in the US. Under Trump’s proposal, children born to Indian parents who are not US citizens or green card holders would no longer qualify for automatic citizenship.
This shift in policy could further complicate the already challenging process of obtaining green cards for Indian nationals. Many Indian professionals on H-1B visas face a decades-long backlog, as the US caps the number of green cards issued annually at 1,40,000 for employment-based applicants, with an additional allocation from unused family-sponsored green cards. Additionally, no country can receive more than 7 per cent of the total green cards, a limit that disproportionately affects Indian applicants.