Bernie Moreno Revives Harry Reid's 1993 Birthright Citizenship Bill After Supreme Court Setback

Q: If birthright citizenship ends, what legal status would U.S.-born children of non-residents have?

As of now, U.S.-born children of non-residents remain U.S. citizens at birth. The Supreme Court’s June 30, 2026 ruling reaffirmed that the Fourteenth Amendment covers children born on U.S. soil regardless of their parents’ immigration status, with narrow historic exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats. If that rule were somehow changed in the future, those children would no longer automatically receive U.S. citizenship. Their status would then depend on whatever new legal framework Congress or a constitutional amendment created, and on whether they could claim citizenship through their parents’ home country. In practical terms, they could be treated as non-citizens from birth, potentially lacking automatic access to a U.S. passport, Social Security number, voting rights later in life, and some federal benefits tied to citizenship. A major legal risk in that scenario would be statelessness. Some children might qualify for another country’s citizenship through their parents, but others might not, depending on foreign nationality laws and documentation. Without citizenship in any country, they could face long-term problems with legal identity, travel, work authorization, and protection from removal. That said, the immediate legal answer is unchanged: Moreno’s bill has only been announced, and the Supreme Court has just reaffirmed birthright citizenship. Under current constitutional law, children born in the United States to non-residents are citizens.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 1

July 13 is when Sen. Bernie Moreno says he will introduce an identical copy of Harry Reid’s 1993 bill to bar automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants.
The move came hours after the Supreme Court stalled Republicans’ broader push on birthright citizenship, with Moreno arguing Congress can instead “clarify what citizenship means.”
Section 1001 of Reid’s Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993 said a child born in the United States to a mother who is not a lawful resident would not be a U.S. citizen.
That 1993 bill never cleared committee, but Moreno said reviving it will force Democrats to confront a proposal once backed by their own former Senate majority leader.
Moreno also urged Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, signaling the effort is as much a political test on immigration as an immediate legislative push.