A Texas congressman just filed a bill to strip automatic citizenship from children born to illegal immigrants, branding the current rule a reward for “invaders.”
Quick Take
- Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced the “Citizenship Act” on July 22 to end birthright citizenship for children of people in the country illegally.
- Gill says the Fourteenth Amendment was never meant to reward unlawful entry with automatic citizenship.
- The bill follows a separate House measure, H.R. 569, that has sat in committee since January 2025.
- Gill is also probing “birth tourism” companies accused of helping foreign nationals game the system.
Gill’s Citizenship Act Targets “Invaders”
Rep. Brandon Gill unveiled the Citizenship Act on July 22, teaming up with Senator Jim Banks to push the bill through Congress. Gill did not hold back on his reasoning. “The Constitution was never intended to reward unlawful entry by automatically granting citizenship to the children of those who invaded our country,” Gill said, framing the fight as a matter of restoring the Fourteenth Amendment’s original meaning rather than rewriting it.
Gill has made this argument in public for months now. On Fox News, he said the idea of handing out automatic citizenship to anyone born on American soil, no matter how their parents got here, is “ludicrous.” He’s pointed to the 1898 Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case as the historical anchor for the debate, arguing the ruling only ever covered children of parents lawfully present in the country.
Birth Tourism Probe Adds Fuel to the Fire
Gill isn’t stopping at legislation. As a member of the House Oversight Committee, he’s gone after companies that advertise “birth tourism” packages to foreign nationals looking to fly to America just to have a baby and lock in citizenship. His committee is investigating firms with names like “Have My Baby in Miami,” and he has floated the idea of criminal conspiracy charges against operators helping people exploit the system.
Federal rules already make this kind of travel illegal. The State Department bars visitor visas when the main purpose of the trip is to give birth in the United States. Gill argues that reality proves the current citizenship rule creates a loophole big enough to drive an entire industry through, at taxpayer expense and at the cost of trust in the immigration system.
Legal Fight Ahead: Constitution Versus the Courts
Gill has already put his name behind President Trump’s executive order on this issue. He joined 17 House Judiciary Committee Republicans on an amicus brief backing the order in federal courts in Washington state and Massachusetts, arguing that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was always meant to exclude children of people who owe no allegiance to the United States.
A separate bill, H.R. 569, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025, has been sitting in the House Judiciary Committee since January 2025 without a vote. That bill also seeks to redefine who counts as “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, but it explicitly would not touch anyone born before it becomes law, showing Republicans are pursuing a forward-looking fix, not a retroactive one.
BREAKING: Rep Brandon Gill just introduced a bill called the "Citizenship Act" which ENDS birthright citizenship for the children of illegal alien invaders. This MUST pass. Birthright citizenship for illegal aliens must STOP pic.twitter.com/ArkF7Lpd3E
— Alice (@dominic_hewitt) July 23, 2026
Critics note that a recent Supreme Court concurrence, not a full ruling, suggested Congress might have room to act on this issue. That leaves real legal uncertainty about whether any statute like Gill’s could survive a court challenge. Still, the White House has already staked out its position, declaring in a presidential action that the amendment “has always excluded” people not fully subject to United States jurisdiction.
For conservatives who have watched illegal border crossings strain schools, hospitals, and local budgets for years, Gill’s bill is a direct answer to a problem they’ve long flagged. Whether it survives committee, a floor vote, or the courts is still an open question. But the message from Gill and his allies is clear: citizenship should never be a prize for breaking the law to get here.
Sources:
twitchy.com, pjmedia.com, foxnews.com, fox.com, congress.gov
