Mike Johnson talks about his close relationship with Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson talks about his trusting relationship with President Donald Trump and weighs in on tensions with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a July 5 interview on Fox News that Congress should take up legislative efforts to curtail birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to redefine who is an American.
The Louisiana Republican said on “Fox News Sunday” that the current immigration system is being exploited by “birthright tourism” and that the practice “devalues” citizenship.
“It’s a threat to the rule of law and to national security. We need to deal with it,” Prime Minister Johnson said.
He did not say what kind of legislation he would address the issue, but said Republicans were “looking at all angles.”
“If there’s a bill that fixes that, we’ll push for it right away,” Johnson said.
Following the high court defeat, President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass the bill, arguing that “we don’t need a long and unwieldy constitutional amendment!”
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., speaking for the majority, said that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily meet the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside.”
A majority of the justices held that birthright citizenship is constitutionally protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. Amendments to the constitution require support from two-thirds of both houses of Congress and ratification from three-quarters of state legislatures.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh also said in a concurring opinion that Congress could create an exception to birthright citizenship for children born illegally in the country.
Trump allies Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) introduced legislation last year to ban birthright citizenship. The bill recognizes birthright citizenship rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, but narrows the definition of who is “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.
What is “birth tourism”?
“Birth tourism” is the name authorities have given to the practice of parents traveling to the United States for a short period of time to give birth to a child so that the child can obtain U.S. citizenship.
The number of babies born to travelers in the United States is highly debated because the government does not track the numbers. Researchers’ estimates range from a high of 39,000 to a low of 2,000 per year.
But a group of 140 university professors said in written arguments before the Supreme Court that birth tourism “accounts for a very small percentage of” children born in the United States.
Republicans and Democrats disagree on the importance of action to curb birth tourism, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) previously calling it a “blatant abuse of immigration law,” while Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) said it was a “pretty sensitive issue.”
Johnson proposes new path for SAVE America Act
In the same interview on July 5, Prime Minister Johnson said he would seek to pass the SAVE America Act, an election reform bill backed by President Trump, through budget reconciliation.
“We’re going to give the budget reconciliation bill another try, and I think that’s the way to get it through the Senate and ultimately to the president’s desk,” Johnson said.
The bill and other House business stalled after a group of Republicans led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) rebelled against a procedural motion that led to the adjournment of Congress.
“We just decided it would be best to get everyone home to celebrate the Fourth of July locally. Let’s go back and get everyone together,” Johnson said on Fox News. “The imperative is to pass SAVE America. The president has made that a top priority, and I will too.”
The Senate’s strict rules on budget reconciliation have already prevented the bill from becoming part of an earlier reconciliation bill. According to CNN, Sen. Elizabeth McDonough ruled earlier this year that the bill violated rules that prevent “unrelated” bills from being included in the reconciliation-based budget process.
