Bill narrows birthright citizenship to children of legal-status parents only

What it does

This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to redefine who qualifies as 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States for purposes of birthright citizenship. It narrows eligibility to children born in the U.S. to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, or alien in active military service—excluding children born to undocumented immigrants or those without lawful status. The bill does not apply retroactively to people born before enactment.

Why we flagged it

The bill functionally narrows birthright citizenship eligibility by redefining 'subject to the jurisdiction' in section 301 of the INA, creating a statutory condition that departs from the 14th Amendment's text while claiming to acknowledge it. This is a substantive restriction on citizenship acquisition, not a clarification.

What the text implies

• The bill's preamble acknowledges the 14th Amendment's birthright citizenship guarantee but then defines 'subject to jurisdiction' in a way that contradicts the Amendment's plain language—creating potential constitutional conflict and litigation risk.
• Children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents would be born in the country but not automatically citizens, creating a new class of stateless or non-citizen U.S.-born persons with unclear legal status and rights.
• The definition excludes children of aliens without 'lawful status' even if born in the U.S., potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of births annually and creating administrative burden on states to track parental immigration status at birth.
• Retroactivity carve-out protects existing citizens but creates a sharp legal cliff—children born the day after enactment to undocumented parents would have different citizenship status than siblings born the day before.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill restricts access to birthright citizenship for a class of children born in the U.S., making citizenship status depend on parental immigration status rather than birth alone. This creates a new category of U.S.-born persons without automatic citizenship rights, potentially affecting their legal status, access to benefits, and civic participation.

Named in the bill

Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), Section 301 INA, 14th Amendment, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State vital records agencies

Where it stands

95 cosponsors: 95 Republicans.

• Jan 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $10,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 8 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Brian Babin, the sponsor, reported $456,773 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Act for America — $10,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jun 26, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.