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US Lawmakers Clash Over China and Birthright Citizenship
US lawmakers are debating whether children born in the country should automatically receive citizenship.
Some Republicans say people from countries such as China use birth tourism to gain benefits for their children.
They also argue that companies help families arrange these trips for profit.
Democrats say there is not enough evidence that birth tourism is widespread.
They warn that changing birthright citizenship could disrupt a constitutional rule.
President Donald Trump issued an order seeking to deny citizenship to some children born to undocumented or temporary visitors.
The Supreme Court blocked that order in a 6–3 decision.
Lawmakers are now discussing whether Congress should respond through legislation.
Republican lawmakers accused China and other foreign nationals of exploiting birthright citizenship through birth tourism.
Democrats said claims about widespread birth tourism and “anchor babies” lack meaningful evidence.
The Supreme Court blocked Trump’s executive order restricting citizenship for some children born in the US.
Estimates suggest births involving temporary visitors represent a small share of total US births.
Hearings on birthright citizenship and birth tourism took place in the House on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Who
- US lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, the Trump administration, and the Supreme Court.
- What
- Congressional hearings examined birthright citizenship, birth tourism, and possible legislative responses after the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s executive order.
- Where
- The hearings were held in the US House of Representatives.
- When
- The hearings occurred on Tuesday and Wednesday; Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office in 2025, and the Supreme Court ruling came in June.
- Why
- Republican lawmakers cited concerns about foreign nationals, particularly those from China, exploiting birthright citizenship, while Democrats disputed the scale of the practice and defended constitutional protections.
Republican lawmakers
Democratic lawmakers
Scale and security concerns
Republican lawmakers
Republicans said foreign nationals, including people from China and Russia, exploit birthright citizenship and that China poses an adversarial threat to the US.
Democratic lawmakers
Democrats said allegations about birth tourism and “anchor babies” amount to unsupported claims, with witnesses unable to demonstrate that the practice is widespread.
Possible congressional action
Republican lawmakers
Republican lawmakers used the hearings to examine possible legislative responses to birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court blocked Trump’s order.
Democratic lawmakers
Democrats argued that any congressional response should not overturn constitutional fundamentals or weaken birthright citizenship.
Who participates in birth tourism
Republican lawmakers
Republican lawmakers emphasized concerns about foreign nationals and particularly highlighted China in discussions of birth tourism.
Democratic lawmakers
The cited report said public perception often associates birth tourism with wealthy Asian families, but Hispanic mothers make up the majority of birth tourists.
Key facts
- Supreme Court ruling
- The court ruled 6–3 that children born in the US to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present remain entitled to citizenship at birth under the 14th Amendment.
- Trump executive order
- Trump directed federal agencies to withhold recognition of citizenship for certain children born in the US to undocumented parents or parents on temporary visas.
- Estimated births to tourist-visa holders
- The House Oversight Committee cited approximately 26,000 births each year to women holding tourist visas.
- Estimated births involving temporary visitors
- The committee cited roughly 70,000 births in 2023 involving women residing in the US as temporary visitors.
- Birth tourism data
- No federal dataset currently tracks birth tourism, and existing estimates vary considerably.
- Penn State estimate
- Researchers estimated that birth tourism accounted for less than 0.3% of US births in every year from 2014 through 2024.
- 2023 US births
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data recorded nearly 3.6 million births in the US in 2023.
Quotes
Mary Gay Scanlon
Democratic representative from Pennsylvania who challenged claims about widespread birth tourism
“Setting aside the fact that the Republicans’ own witnesses cannot show actual proof that birth tourism happens on any meaningful or widespread basis, any congressional response certainly does not involve upending constitutional fundamentals.”
wionews.com
“China is definitely an adversary to this nation [that] has worked in many ways to undermine us. We could spend a whole half an hour or hours actually on that.”
wionews.com
Sources
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