What we know: How far can immigration officers go under new laws?
From executive orders on natural citizenship to representation of federal agents, how far can immigration law go? This is what we know.
Barbara, a 35-year-old asylum seeker from Cuba, is a big loom among the other pregnant immigrants she speaks about whenever she goes to a prenatal appointment in Louisville, Kentucky. Will their babies be born to American citizens?
Wishing to be identified by her name for fear of retaliation, Barbara crossed the US-Mexican border in 2022 and applied for asylum. The Cuban lawyer said she escaped political and religious persecution in her home country. She, husband and four-year-old daughter have pending US asylum applications and do not have permanent immigration status. The baby is scheduled for July.
An executive order issued by President Donald Trump in January automatically limits American birthright citizenship – part of his wide immigration crackdown, which would deny anticipated citizenship to children if it was in effect.
Three federal judges issued a nationwide injunction that obstructed policy, finding the 14th amendment to the US Constitution likely to violate citizenship language on an issue raised by Democratic lawyers from 22 states and various pregnancy immigration and advocacy groups.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday is expected to hear debate in the Trump administration’s demand that justice allows broad enforcement of instructions by narrowing the scope of the injunction.
Trump signed the order on his first day back in the White House, instructing federal agencies to refuse to grant citizenship to US-born children without at least one parent who is a US citizen or a legal permanent resident.
That night, Barbara barely slept, she said.
“I heard that news caused me such a terrible stress that it still follows me to this day,” she said.
The state attorney general said in February that Trump’s order would deny citizenship to more than 150,000 children born in the United States each year. Approximately 3.6 million babies were born in the United States in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Supreme Court believes that the administration is targeting only the national scope of injunctions, with content that entrusts them to protect only those who sued and residents of the 22 states, and that justice holds the legal status that these states need to file their lawsuits.
The outcome could enable Trump’s orders in 28 states that did not sue, including Kentucky, except for plaintiffs who reside in those states. And the Supreme Court can act without assessing the legality of Trump’s instructions.
The 14th amendment, ratified in 1868, is understood to grant citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States for a long time. The Trump administration argues that automatic birthright citizenship does not reflect the best reading of the 14th amendment, which encourages “birth tourism” by mothers who are hoping to travel to the United States, giving birth and safe citizenship for their children.
“Born in Limbo”
The interests are particularly high for asylum seekers like Barbara, or for people from countries that do not have an embassy in the US, supporters said.
If her daughter was born with a claim to US citizenship, she said she was worried that the child would become stateless. Seeking Cuban nationality is not an option, she said, “Because we came here and fled the regime.”
Karina Ambartsoumian-Clough, executive director of United Stateless, a group that advocates for the people of Stateless, said the termination of Birthright citizenship would create a “subset of people without legal identities.”
Citizenship laws vary from country to country, policies often change, countries sometimes disband and borders move, Ambertomian Krau said. Not all countries allow citizenship to be inherited through parents, Ambartsoumian-Clough added.
The more direct practicality is also surprising, Ambartsoumian-Clough said. For example, how is a baby officially registered and access to medical care and vaccinations?
Barbara, who worked as a custodian at a local school until she was placed in the bed rest due to a high-risk pregnancy, said she was nervous about her baby being “born in Limbo” as she follows what happens in the Supreme Court.
She plans to name her daughter’s Valley.
“This baby from the womb is very brave and there’s a future to conquer in this country, despite it already becoming very difficult,” Barbara said.
In her medical appointment, she said she saw the other mothers, crying while talking about the possibility that other mothers (mainly Guatemalan and Mexicans) had not achieved citizenship.
Barbara said she felt her heart rate was rising and her hands started to sweat when she spoke about it.
“When I spoke to other moms, she said, ‘I know I’m not the only one.”
Reported by Christina Cook. Additional reports by Ted Hesson, Andrew Chong and Nate Raymond. Edited by Willdunham
