US May Require Parents to Prove Citizenship to Obtain Passports for Their Children

Parents applying for U.S. passports for their children could soon have to prove their own citizenship or immigration status under a State Department proposal tied to Donald Trump’s campaign against birthright citizenship.

The draft guidance, reviewed by Reuters, would give the department a way to implement Trump’s August 6 executive order. The order targets what it calls “birth tourism,” referring to travel to the United States to give birth, and seeks to broaden historical exceptions to birthright citizenship.

The proposal marks the first detailed view of how the State Department could enforce the executive order. Under the plan, passport applications for children would involve documentation showing the status of their parents, adding a new requirement to a process that establishes a child’s eligibility for a U.S. passport.

Trump’s order has placed birthright citizenship back at the center of the administration’s immigration policy. The State Department’s draft guidance shows how that policy could reach families through passport applications, though the provided material does not detail when the proposed requirements would take effect.