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Washington Attorney General Nick Brown speaks Jan. 23, 2025, after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship in a case brought by Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. (AP)
President Donald Trump issued a Jan. 20 executive order that aims to end the granting of U.S. birthright citizenship. A federal judge on Jan. 23 temporarily blocked it from taking effect.
Trump’s order said the government would no longer recognize U.S. citizenship if a person was born in the U.S. "when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."
Immigration experts have repeatedly said the executive order would deny citizenship to the children of some people who are in the U.S. legally.
For years, President Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship.
He failed to do it during his first presidential term. But shortly after being sworn into office again Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order that sought to end automatic citizenship for people born in the U.S.
A federal judge on Jan. 23 called Trump’s order "blatantly unconstitutional" and temporarily blocked the order in response to a lawsuit Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon had filed. The executive order faces additional challenges from at least 18 other states and immigrants rights groups.
But social media, as always, has its own take on the order’s implications. One Threads user falsely claimed Trump’s order would revoke second lady Usha Vance’s citizenship; the order applies only to future children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents.
But then we saw a Jan. 21 post in which Threads user wrote: "The removal of birthright citizenship only applies to the children of those that are here ILLEGALLY… Jesus people, it’s not that hard."
That post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)
The post is wrong about the scope of Trump’s executive action. The order said "no department or agency of the United States government shall issue documents recognizing United States citizenship" to people:
"When that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth," or
"When that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth."
Although the first category excludes only the children of people in the U.S. illegally, that second category requires that if the executive order takes effect, even the babies of people legally — but temporarily — in the U.S. will be denied citizenship.
People can be in the U.S. lawfully but temporarily for multiple reasons, such as being in the country on student, work or tourist visas.
When analyzing the order, immigration experts — including advocates and reporters — repeatedly said it would deny citizenship to the children of some people who are in the U.S. legally.
Gil Guerra, an immigration policy expert at the Niskanen Center, a think tank, said in an X post that Trump’s order "notably would cover the children born to several types of *legal* immigrants."
He told PolitiFact that under the order, if neither parent is a legal permanent resident or naturalized citizen, then even a pair of legal immigrants could have children who don’t qualify for American citizenship.
"If two immigrant parents here on H-1B visas have a child born in March of this year, that child will no longer be an American citizen," Guerra said, referring to a visa program that lets U.S. employers hire foreign workers with certain skill sets.
If a company legally brings employees and their families to the United States using another visa program known as L-1, any children born to those employees in the U.S. will no longer be U.S. citizens, he continued.
"The children of people admitted through the refugee system, which is distinct from the asylum system, will similarly no longer be U.S. citizens if they are born while their parents are waiting to adjust their status," Guerra said.
In a Jan. 20 X post, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, an immigration-rights advocacy group, wrote that Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order "says that every child born to a parent here on any non-immigrant visa (including student visas which allow people to live in the US for years) is not a US citizen."
Similarly, CBS News’ immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez described Trump’s order as a move to "to dismantle the longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment," which says that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Montoya-Galvez said the president had ordered "federal agencies to deny birthright citizenship to children of parents who are unauthorized immigrants OR temporary visa holders."
The federal judge in Washington state who temporarily blocked Trump’s order said its delay would give the court time to consider the states’ upcoming motion for an injunction. Republican President Ronald Reagan appointed that judge.
Trump said his administration would appeal the federal court’s decision.
A Threads post said "The removal of birthright citizenship only applies to the children of those that are here ILLEGALLY."
Trump’s order isn’t limited to children of people in the country illegally, according to its text and immigration experts who read it.
We rate this claim False.
RELATED: Federal Judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship
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RELATED: President Trump’s birthright citizenship order won’t revoke Usha Vance’s U.S. citizenship
Threads post, Jan. 21, 2025
Email interview with Gil Guerra, Immigration Policy Analyst at the Niskanen Center, Jan. 24, 2025
The White House, Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship, Jan. 20, 2025
The Brennan Center, Presidents Can’t End Birthright Citizenship, Jan. 20, 2025
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick’s X post, Jan. 23, 2025
PolitiFact, Donald Trump is reiterating his promise to overturn birthright citizenship. Can he do it? Dec. 10, 2024
Court Listener, State of Washington v. Trump (2:25-cv-00127), Jan. 23, 2025
The Associated Press, 22 states sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship, Jan. 21, 2025
Gil Guerra’s X post, Jan. 20, 2025
Immigration Insights by Alex Nowrasteh and David J. Bier, There is No Good Reason to Revoke Birthright Citizenship, Jan. 23, 2025
CASA, Pregnant Moms, ASAP, CASA Sue to Protect Birthright Citizenship, Jan. 21, 2025
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick’s X post, Jan. 20, 2025
Camilo Montoya-Galvez’s X post, Jan. 20, 2025
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager, accessed Jan. 24, 2025
PolitiFact, Are H-1B visa holders hired as dog trainers, massage therapists? Here’s what Bernie Sanders misses, Jan. 9, 2025
U.S. Department of Labor, H-1B visa program, Accessed Jan. 6, 2025
PolitiFact, In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to people born in the US, Dec. 12, 2024
National Archives, 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Civil Rights (1868), accessed Dec. 9, 2024
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