Jim Banks has proposed classifying the children of illegal immigrants as “children of invaders”
US Senator Jim Banks of Indiana introduced legislation on Monday aimed at limiting birthright citizenship by declaring illegal migrants “invaders,” reviving President Donald Trump’s effort weeks after a US Supreme Court ruling struck it down.
Soon after returning to office last year, Trump signed an executive order to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the US to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily, as part of a broader immigration crackdown. In late June, the Supreme Court declared the president’s order unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision was an unprecedented assault on American sovereignty, and we must do whatever it takes to save our country,” Banks told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Monday.
The legislation aims to “ensure the millions of illegal aliens that invaded our country can’t continue to exploit our immigration system,” he added.
The bill would seek to codify Trump’s declaration that the US is under an “invasion” by illegal migrants and amend federal law to deny citizenship to their children under what Banks described as “a longstanding common law exception for children of foreign invaders.”
Banks’ proposal joins similar efforts by other Republicans. Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced legislation last month that would also restrict birthright citizenship. Earlier this month, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina proposed a separate bill targeting so-called birth tourism, in which foreign nationals travel to the US while pregnant so that their children can obtain American citizenship at birth.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has pursued a sweeping immigration agenda, tightening border controls, expanding deportations, and seeking stricter voter registration requirements, while accusing Democrats of using immigration to “expand their voter base [and] cheat in elections.” Legal challenges to several of the administration’s immigration measures are still ongoing.
