The Supreme Court’s decision in the birthright citizenship case is “a monumentally terrible decision,” says author Peter Schweizer, whose latest bestseller exposed China’s efforts to exploit birth tourism on an industrial scale.
In Trump v. Barbara, the Court this week threw out President Donald Trump’s executive order directing federal immigration agencies not to automatically grant citizenship to every child born to a foreigner on U.S. soil. The decision, though expected by many, is absolutely terrible for American sovereignty, Schweizer believes.
Schweizer’s book, the #1 bestselling The Invisible Coup, cited statistics directly from the Chinese government and from researchers who have studied China’s “birth tourism” industry to conclude that as many as 1 million Chinese children have been born as birthright American citizens on U.S. soil in the past 14 years. The book also documented there are more than 1,000 Chinese companies operating in the U.S., and about 500 within China itself, that facilitate this practice.
The U.S. Solicitor General even cited these figures as part of its oral argument presentation to the justices in April.
On the most recent episode of The Drill Down, Schweizer and co-host Eric Eggers discuss what the Court got wrong, why, and the implications for the future. What should President Trump do in light of the decision?
Trump responded sarcastically to the decision: “I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!” he wrote on Truth Social. But what can he really do?
“The only way to fix this fully is to amend the Constitution,” Schweizer says.
The very first sentence of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, states: “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 wherein they reside.” (Emphasis added). The case turned on the jurisdictional question, whether an illegal alien in the U.S. was subject to American jurisdiction, and therefore any children born in the U.S. would automatically be an American citizen. Mountains of legal analysis and thorough reviews of the legislative history have been studied ever since Trump issued the Executive Order on Jan. 21, 2025, his first day back in office.
LIMIT BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BY STATUTE
But Schweizer also sees a legislative path. Many of the Chinese birth tourists are going to U.S. territories — Saipan in particular. Schweizer notes that residents of U.S. territories are not granted all the same rights as residents of U.S. states. They are not subject to the 14th Amendment, and Congress passed a law in 1976 to allow residents of the Mariana Territory to be U.S. citizens. Therefore, Congress could revoke or amend that law to rule out foreigners who are visiting territories of the U.S.
“Because Congress granted birthright citizenship to people there. Congress could pass a law not granting it to foreigners going to U.S. territories for that purpose,” he says.
SHUT DOWN BIRTH TOURISM COMPANIES IN THE US
“Within the U.S., go after birth tourism companies,” Schweizer suggests, most of which operate in Southern California.
The administration is now cracking down on Chinese birth tourism companies operating in the U.S. These companies facilitate birth tourism for their elite Chinese customers. Among other things, Schweizer notes, they coach expectant mothers not to disclose their pregnancy, and to give the address of the business as their “home” address when filling out birth certificate documents.
“Prosecute them for visa fraud,” Schweizer says. He notes the sentences for this kind of visa fraud are typically a year in prison and should be stiffened to ten years. “These companies are making tens of millions of dollars doing this,” he adds.
Some commentators have questioned GAI’s reported figures, citing a study by the Centers for Disease Control that put the number of foreigners giving birth in the U.S. at between 10,000–20,000 a year. In an interview with GBN News this week, Eric Eggers was challenged by a Democrat strategist who cited that study.
However, Schweizer looked at the study and noted their methodology was to look for foreign home addresses. As noted previously, the birth tourism companies specifically coach their Chinese clients to give the U.S. address of their business to immigration authorities, not their real home address in China, just so they won’t show up as foreigners. “They’re trying to hide what they’re doing,” he stresses.
REVOKE OBAMA’S 10-YEAR VISA AGREEMENT WITH CHINA
In 2014, President Barack Obama signed an agreement with China permitting a 10-year visa for Chinese citizens visiting the U.S. The agreement, couched in language suggesting it would help trade, allows visiting Chinese women to be fast-tracked into the U.S. Schweizer notes that many women in China get that visa even before they become pregnant, thus avoiding scrutiny at the border control office.
“This was a terrible idea,” Schweizer says. “Trump, with an executive order, could simply say, ‘Nope. We’re going back to the existing system. We’re not going to do these 10-year visas anymore.’”
It’s a tragedy what the Supreme Court did, but we have to keep fighting. And there are tools in our arsenal,” Schweizer says.
Eggers closes the show by noting: “The United States exists because of both Divine Providence and human agency. And we need to use that agency to have an honest conversation about birthright citizenship.”
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