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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Sunday his conference is “looking at all angles” to legislatively address birthright citizenship, after the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump’s executive order restricting it.
“We do need to address it. We’re looking at all angles,” Johnson told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”
“If there’s some legislative fix, we’ll advance that immediately,” he added. “If it’s a constitutional amendment … it takes a little more time. But we’ve got to address this. It really is a serious, serious issue.”
The high court last Tuesday upheld the long-standing precedent of birthright citizenship, with five justices ruling the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly all children born in the U.S. — even those born to parents in the country illegally.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, meanwhile, ruled Trump’s executive order violated the Nationality Act of 1940, which mirrored the amendment’s language.
In his opinion, Kavanaugh wrote that Congress could “amend” federal law “or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country.”
Since the ruling, multiple GOP members of Congress have called to address birthright citizenship — with Trump saying a constitutional amendment is not necessary.
A day after Trump signed his executive order, Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) introduced legislation to codify it. The bill proposes redefining the “subject to the jurisdiction” clause of the 14th Amendment, outlining that an individual is subject to U.S. jurisdiction — and therefore a citizen at birth — if they have at least one parent who is a citizen, lawful permanent resident or noncitizen with lawful status who is serving in the U.S. military.
Babin’s legislation would not apply retroactively and thus would not impact the citizenship or nationality status “of any person born before the bill’s enactment date.”
Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, also said Sunday that the 14th Amendment has “been devalued” due to “birth tourism,” or visiting the country with an intent to give birth on U.S. soil. Up to 26,000 of the more than 3.5 million babies born in the U.S. annually can be attributed to the practice, according to a review of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Migration Policy Institute.
“It’s a threat to the rule of law and national security,” the Louisiana Republican added.
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