Jim Banks introduced the Jim Banks Birthright Citizenship Bill less than two weeks after the Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship. The Citizenship Act of 2026 would deny automatic citizenship to some children born in the United States, including children of people who entered unlawfully or for birth tourism.
Banks said the measure would amend federal law so those children would not automatically receive U.S. citizenship. He also said, “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.”
June 30 ruling
The Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on June 30 that struck down Trump’s order ending automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who were foreign nationals, regardless of whether they were in the country legally. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship extends to children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the United States.
Trump signed that executive order on Jan. 20, 2025. After the ruling, he said, “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY,” and added, “This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”
Citizenship Act of 2026
Banks’ office issued a news release about the Citizenship Act of 2026 on July 13. The proposal classifies people who enter the United States without authorization or for birth tourism as part of an ongoing invasion, and supporters of the bill argue that those cases fall outside the protection they want written into federal law.
The bill tries to do through Congress what Trump tried to do through executive action: end automatic citizenship for a defined group of U.S.-born children. That puts the measure back into the same legal fight over the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, but this time through legislation rather than a presidential order.
Congress and the courts
The proposal faces a difficult path in Congress, and any version that advances would still be vulnerable to another court challenge. Whether the Citizenship Act of 2026 can pass Congress and withstand review by the United States Supreme Court is the issue Banks has now put back on the agenda.
For families who would be covered by the bill, the practical effect would turn on whether Congress adopts the change and whether the courts let it stand. Until then, the dispute remains a fight over whether automatic citizenship for those children stays in place or gets rewritten in federal law.
