US Plans To Ask Parents' Citizenship, Immigration Proof For Their Child's Passport

Washington: The Donald Trump administration is planning to ask parents in the United States to prove their own citizenship or immigration status before applying for passports for their children as part of President Donald Trump's latest effort to limit birthright citizenship, according to a Reuters report. The US State Department proposal marks Team Trump's first detailed framework for implementing the Republican president's August 6 executive order targeting what it calls "birth tourism" and broadening historical exceptions to birthright citizenship."President Trump has been unequivocal that this Administration will protect the meaning and value of American citizenship, full stop, and that includes making sure our passport adjudication process fully reflects that standard," the State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement to Reuters. What's the New Proposal? The existing US passport rule requires parents, who are applying for passports of their US-born children, to establish their relationship with the minor and provide government-issued photo identification.Even in the current structure, parents are asked to declare their citizenship status on application forms, but they are not routinely required to submit documents proving their immigration status.The State Department's draft guidance proposed to change this process. Under the new rule, "the Department will require parental information and evidence of parental citizenship or immigration status as part of its determination whether the applicant is subject to EO 14418," the State Department draft guidance read, citing the executive order number.If the new law is implemented, the proposal would require all parents or legal guardians to provide proof of their citizenship, such as a valid US passport or birth certificate, or evidence of their immigration status, such as an I-94 form or a legal permanent residency card, when submitting a passport application for their children. The information would be used by the government to determine if the child qualifies for citizenship under the new order, the State Department proposal said.The GoalAccording to the Reuters report, the new directive would withhold citizenship from children with a parent who works for a foreign government in the US, is engaged in fraud or a commercial transaction to obtain citizenship, or is classified as an "alien enemy."The proposed passport rules come amid an ongoing legal battle over Trump's efforts to restrict birthright citizenship. Lawyers pursuing class-action lawsuits on behalf of babies who would be deprived of citizenship under Trump's initial order have asked two different federal judges to prevent his latest order from taking effect.One of those lawsuits is before US District Judge Deborah Boardman, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden.At a hearing on Friday in Greenbelt, Maryland, Boardman voiced skepticism about what she called Trump's unprecedented order and allowed the plaintiffs to revise their lawsuit so she could consider whether to block it.Justice Department attorneys have argued that a restraining order would be inappropriate and that the legal challenge was premature, as federal agencies had yet to issue public guidance on how the president's directive would be implemented. Trump's Citizenship AgendaLimiting birthright citizenship has been one of Trump's top priorities in his far-reaching crackdown on immigration. The US Supreme Court ruled his previous attempt violated the country's Constitution.Trump's initial executive order would have granted automatic US citizenship at birth only to children with at least one parent who was a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident known as a green card holder.In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court found the order was unlawful, with a majority finding it violated the Citizenship Clause of the Constitution's 14th Amendment.