The fight over birthright citizenship is far from over.
Just weeks after the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Donald Trump’s effort to end automatic citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants, Sen. Jim Banks is launching a new legislative offensive that could put one of the most explosive immigration debates in America back at center stage.
Banks, an Indiana Republican and close Trump ally, announced Monday that he is introducing the Citizenship Act of 2026, legislation designed to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants and foreign nationals who enter the country specifically for so-called “birth tourism.” The proposal follows last month’s Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Barbara, which upheld the long-standing interpretation of birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment while signaling that Congress retains authority to amend relevant federal statutes.
The bill takes an aggressive approach.
According to Banks’ proposal, individuals who enter the United States illegally or for the purpose of obtaining citizenship benefits through childbirth would be classified as statutory “invaders” under federal law. Their children would no longer qualify for automatic citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The legislation also seeks to codify President Trump’s January 2025 executive order declaring that the United States is facing an invasion through illegal immigration.
“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 said while announcing the legislation. He added that the measure is intended to ensure that “millions of illegal aliens that invaded our country can’t continue to exploit our immigration system.”
The legislation was crafted in part around arguments raised by Justice Brett Kavanaugh in his opinion accompanying the Court’s ruling. Kavanaugh suggested that while Trump’s executive order conflicted with existing federal law, Congress possesses the authority to change that law through legislation. Banks’ office believes that pathway offers Republicans their strongest opportunity to advance Trump’s immigration agenda despite the Court’s decision.
The broader battle has intensified since the Supreme Court ruled that children born on American soil generally remain entitled to citizenship regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Chief Justice John Roberts relied heavily on the Court’s historic Wong Kim Ark precedent, while opponents of the ruling argue that the original intent of the Fourteenth Amendment never contemplated modern illegal immigration or organized birth tourism operations.
Supporters of Banks’ legislation point to growing concerns over foreign birth tourism networks, particularly operations that encourage wealthy foreign nationals to travel to the United States specifically to secure citizenship for their children. They also argue that mass illegal immigration has transformed the debate from a legal question into a national sovereignty issue. Critics counter that the proposal would face immediate constitutional challenges and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship protections remain firmly established by Supreme Court precedent.
Even if the legislation faces long odds in a divided Congress, it signals that Republicans are preparing a new front in the immigration battle rather than accepting the Supreme Court’s ruling as the final word.
