Donald Trump signed a decree on Thursday supposed to prevent “birth tourism”, consisting of foreigners giving birth in the United States so that their child will be American, in a new attempt to call into question the rights of the soil.
The American president, presenting this text which targets a marginal practice, said he wanted to make “adjustments” after a decision he described as “very unfortunate” by the Supreme Court.
Children born in the United States to parents “unlawfully or temporarily present” are “citizens by birth under the 14th Amendment” of the Constitution, the Court concluded.
A little over a month ago, the highest American court overturned a decree taken by Donald Trump upon his return to power, removing land rights for the children of illegal immigrants.
It was an emblematic measure for the Republican leader, who implemented a very restrictive immigration policy, even if many experts had predicted from the start that it would be rejected by the Supreme Court.
The American president, in an exchange with the press in the Oval Office, said he thought that his new offensive to limit land law, at the margins this time, would be judged to be consistent with the Constitution.
His close adviser Stephen Miller, one of the main inspirations of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy, described “birth tourism” as “one of the most serious and flagrant abuses” of American law.
Specialists emphasize, however, that this phenomenon remains marginal, compared to the more than 250,000 annual births of children of illegal immigrants or temporary residents in the United States.
Stephen Miller also assured that the American government was “expanding” the categories of people to whom the law does not apply, to include for example “members of terrorist organizations” or people “acting on behalf of foreign governments”.
The number of people potentially affected and the impact of these new measures, while restrictions on land rights already exist, are however unclear.
