How Trump’s crackdown on US birthright citizenship can impact Indians

With millions of Indian-Americans currently residing in the United States, the end of birthright citizenship can hit a snag in their long-term goal of attaining permanent residency in the country.

What is birthright citizenship?

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution grants citizenship to all the people born in the United States. Adopted after the Civil War in 1868, the birthright citizenship clause of the amendment covers all those who were born in the country, even if their parents are not a citizen.

However, the Trump administration dubbed the concept of birthright citizenship as “ridiculous”, and describes the move to end birthright citizenship as a way to curb illegal immigration.

In the past, Republicans have argued that people from countries that record a high level of immigration to the US, including China, India and Mexico, use this clause in the 14th Amendment to exploit the system.

How can end of birthright citizenship impact Indians?

According to the data from the US Census Bureau, there are over 5 million Indian Americans currently residing in the United States, accounting for 1.47 per cent of the total US population. While 34 per cent of these are US born, nearly two-thirds of them are immigrants, the data says.

With majority of the Indian nationals in the US currently on a work visa (H1-B visa), the hundreds of Indian-origin children being born in the country won’t be granted automatic citizenship according to Trump’s executive order.

There are currently millions of Indian Americans who have been awaiting their green cards for years, some for decades. The removal of birthright citizenship, aimed at discouraging immigration in the US, is expected to cause a further backlog in the process.

Further, it is expected to cause uncertainty for immigrant families with children who were born in the US, as well as Indian students who migrate to the country for college education.

End of birth tourism in United States

Birth tourism, a practice which the Trump administration aims to end, is when a woman travels to the United States with the purpose of having a child in the country, who would automatically get a US citizenship. This would further speed up the process of the parents of the child getting a green card of citizenship.

Mexican and Indian families are reportedly among the highest percentage of people who use this route to get automatic citizenships for their children.

A report by the Homeland Security made several recommendations on stricter visa norms for those indulging in birth tourism, but Trump’s new policy is expected to put an end to the practice altogether.