Texas heirloom birth certificate (Credit: Texas Dept. State Health Services)
Some Texas Republicans are calling on the state to deny birth certificates to babies when their parents are not citizens of the United States following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that affirmed automatic citizenship for most people born in the United States.
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What they’re saying:
Railroad Commission nominee Bo French called the Supreme Court’s decision “traitorous” while using a derogatory term for children on non-citizens.
“The correct response to the traitorous decision today on anchor babies is nullification,” French said. “Texas can just do things and we should. Texas is sovereign. If I have anything to say about it, Texas will not recognize them as citizens.”
State Rep. Brian Harrison also joined the call for denying birth certificates to children of non-citizens, calling for a special session of the legislature to pass laws preventing “birth tourism.”
“I am publicly demanding an immediate special session to combat the harms from mass birth tourism, pressure the federal government to fix birth tourism, and to protect the value of citizenship that countless paid the ultimate price for,” Harrison said on X. “I hope every elected Republican in Texas joins my call for immediate action. Delay is unacceptable for a state like Texas!”
Congressional Republicans follow Trump’s lead calling for new laws
Following the decision, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to call on Congress to pass legislation to end birthright citizenship.
What they’re saying:
“We can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump said. “Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”
The call was echoed by several Texas Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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“I totally agree with President Trump, Congress must act! Kavanaugh was right in his opinion, we must clarify statute surrounding birthright citizenship and who is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S.,” Rep. Brian Babin said.
Rep. Chip Roy called for more action and suggested a pause on all immigration into the United States.
“Today the Supreme Court manufactured out of thin air a complete abomination of a ruling by the Chief Justice suggesting that you can simply become a citizen from being born on dirt, thereby validating the abhorrent practice of baby factories,” Roy said following Tuesday’s decision. “This leaves us no choice but to do what we must do to PAUSE all immigration.”
Rep. Brandon Gill said the court’s ruling was wrong.
“Illegal aliens shouldn’t be able to anchor themselves to our country simply because they crossed the border and gave birth,” Gill said on X. “Birthright citizenship was never meant for people who had no right to be here in the first place.”
Supreme Court rejects Trump crackdown on birthright citizenship
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled Trump’s 2025 order on birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, rejecting his executive order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
The justices relied on a long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, and more recent federal laws in ruling that anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions, is a citizen.
The Republican president’s restrictions had been blocked by several lower courts and had not taken effect anywhere in the U.S.
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