The same day that the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) told its staffers that it will “prioritize the investigation and prosecution of birth tourism schemes.”
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald issued a memorandum to DOJ employees on Tuesday that the agency shared on social media hours after the Supreme Court issued its ruling that rejected Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship. In the notice, McDonald shared several stories of what he called “birth tourism schemes.”
“The benefits of United States citizenship require little explanation,” he said. “Regrettably, the American system is exploited each year by thousands of foreigners who travel to the United States under false pretenses to give birth and secure citizenship for their child.”
“Birth tourism schemes exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law,” McDonald continued.
He went on to say that the DOJ “will investigate and hold accountable those who engage in this unlawful conduct, as well as those who solicit and sell these criminal services to others.” He said he was directing staffers to work with the Department of Homeland Security to prioritize these cases.
“The Department of Justice will zealously protect the sanctity of United States citizenship by investigating and prosecuting those who fraudulently exploit our immigration system,” he said. “Together, we will bring illegal birth tourism to an end and those responsible to justice.”
The Supreme Court’s decision earlier in the day was one of the most significant blows Trump’s second term agenda has so far suffered. The justices ruled in a contentious 5-4 decision to strike down the President’s Executive Order seeking to limit birthright citizenship to those born in the U.S. with at least one parent who is a citizen or legal resident of the U.S. The outcome dealt a setback to his hardline approach to immigration.
The President expressed his displeasure with the ruling on Truth Social, calling it “too bad for our Country.” At the same time, however, he said that “we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation.”
Other members of the President’s party joined him in criticizing the court’s decision, with some Republicans calling for a constitutional amendment to impose restrictions on birthright citizenship and others saying they would seek to limit it through legislative means. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that birthright citizenship has been “overused and abused.”
“I’m sure that we’ll continue to look at that,” he said. “I’m sure that the conclusion from this decision is you have to amend the Constitution to fix that.”
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