Anchor Babies

US President Donald Trump has announced new executive orders aimed at ending so-called birth tourism in the US and limiting birthright citizenship for certain groups.

It is part of a renewed effort by his administration to restrict access to US citizenship after the Supreme Court shot down Trump’s first attempt in June.

Birthright citizenship refers to the practice of granting citizenship to those born on US soil, with some exceptions, while birth tourism is when foreign nationals come to the US specifically to give birth and get their child citizenship.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding birthright citizenship—that is, that anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen—offers a sobering glimpse into the legal complexities that await Canada if policymakers do not move quickly to combat the growing problem of birth tourism.

Specifically, the court struck down an executive order from the U.S. president that would have eliminated birthright citizenship, maintaining the 14th Amendment’s current interpretation and demonstrating how constitutional entrenchment can thwart reform.

Calm down about today’s birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara. We were always going to lose. That was expected by anyone who understands how the courts work; what wasn’t expected is that this ruling was such a huge step toward eventual victory. You don’t have to be happy, but you don’t have to freak out. We’re winning.

A singer in China’s famous Beijing Opera, Danyang Yang flew to Vancouver in 2014 to have her baby in a Canadian hospital. She did so to deliver another child in 2017, like thousands of other so-called birth tourists who come to Canada each year.

Both times Yang immediately returned to China. A few years later, the singer and her husband, Tong Zhang, moved their family and much of their real-estate fortune to Canada, where they eventually became permanent residents.