Birthright Citizenship: Impact on Business Immigration?

By Alan Perkins, Corinne Zycherman Brooks, Melina LaMorticella, and Melany Savitt

The 14th Amendment provides:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

President Trump’s Executive Order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” limits birthright citizenship to babies born in the United States after February 20, 2025, who had at least one parent who was a lawful permanent resident or U.S. citizen. This means that a child born in the United States to parents present on business immigration visas such as H-1B or L-1 would not receive U.S. citizenship at birth. Questions immediately arose as to how the immigration status of such children would be documented and handled.

A federal judge in the Western District of Washington granted a nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO) against President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. The TRO went into effect January 23, 2025. Since then, a preliminary injunction has been granted. We anticipate this Executive Order will be enjoined pending further litigation.