Griffith Introduces Bill to End Birthright Citizenship in 4 U.S. Territories After Supreme Court Ruling
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 20
Griffith Introduces Bill to End Birthright Citizenship in 4 U.S. Territories After Supreme Court Ruling
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 20
Summary
Rep. Morgan Griffith unveiled the End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act, which would stop automatic citizenship at birth in four inhabited U.S. territories—Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Griffith argues Congress can rewrite territorial citizenship rules because they were created by federal statute, not directly by the 14th Amendment, after the Supreme Court recently rejected President Donald Trump’s broader effort targeting births in the states.
The bill is aimed at curbing birth tourism, especially in CNMI, where critics say a 2009 federal immigration shift and parole policies for some Chinese and Russian visitors helped fuel the practice.
CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds backed tougher enforcement against immigration abuse but opposed singling out territorial residents, warning Congress against creating one citizenship standard for the 50 states and another for the territories.
Any push forward could reopen a wider legal fight over Congress’s power in the territories, with Griffith relying on the Insular Cases even as some justices, including Neil Gorsuch, have urged those precedents be overturned.