Bill stops automatic citizenship for some children born in U.S. territories.
S. 5667 — Ending Birthright Citizenship in U.S. Territories Act · Filed by James Lankford (R-OK) · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill changes who gets automatic citizenship when born in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico or Guam. Children born there would lose automatic citizenship if their mother is not lawfully present. Their father must also not be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Right now, some children born in territories get automatic citizenship. This bill would take that away.
Who it affects
Children born in U.S. territories would be affected. The bill targets children whose mother is not lawfully present. Their father must not be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
One thing to notice
The bill creates different citizenship rules for U.S. territories than for the 50 states. Territory-born children would have fewer citizenship rights than mainland-born children.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- U.S. territories — Places under U.S. control but not states, like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- lawfully present — In the country legally, with permission from the government.
- lawful permanent resident — A person allowed to live in the U.S. permanently but not yet a citizen.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (437 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Bill stops automatic citizenship for some children born in U.S. territories.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5667/simple Report an error
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