House Speaker Mike Johnson says Congress should act to curtail birthright citizenship, arguing that “birthright tourism” devalues citizenship and threatens rule of law and national security after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive
When Mike Johnson walked through the question of birthright citizenship on Fox News Sunday, he did so with a clear warning and a pointed reason: he says “birthright tourism” has already changed how some Republicans view the value of citizenship itself.
In a July 5 interview. the Louisiana Republican argued that Congress should take up legislation to curtail birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine who is an American. Johnson said the current immigration system is being abused by people he described as traveling briefly to the United States to deliver children so those children can claim citizenship.
“It’s a threat to the rule of law and national security. We do need to address it,” Johnson said. He did not name a specific bill in the interview, but said Republicans are “looking at all angles.”
“If there is a bill that can fix that, we’ll advance that immediately,” Johnson said.
That message lands after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order, a move that came with immediate political follow-up: Trump urged Congress to pass legislation after the loss, insisting that “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”
The Supreme Court’s ruling relied on the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause. which states. “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.” Writing for the majority. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the United States satisfy the citizenship clause because they are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.
A majority of justices found birthright citizenship is constitutionally protected under the 14th Amendment. Amending the Constitution, the Court noted, would require support from two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the nation’s state legislatures.
The arguments inside the Court, though, didn’t all point in the same direction. In a concurring opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Congress could establish exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to people in the country illegally.
Republicans have already tested that lane. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, introduced legislation last year to ban birthright citizenship. Their bill acknowledges birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment but narrows the definition of persons who are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.
Supporters of stricter rules frequently point to “birth tourism. ” a term authorities use for the practice of parents traveling briefly to the U.S. for the purpose of securing citizenship for a child. The actual scale is disputed because the government does not track the figures. Estimates from researchers have varied from as high as 39,000 annually to as low as 2,000.
A group of 140 university professors told the Supreme Court in a written argument that birth tourism “accounts for an infinitesimal proportion of children” born in the U.S.
That uncertainty is part of why the political fight has remained sharp. Republicans and Democrats disagree about how much attention and urgency the issue deserves. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, previously called it a “blatant abuse of our immigration laws,” while Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, said it was a “pretty marginal issue.”.
Johnson’s comments come as the Supreme Court’s rejection of Trump’s executive order forces the debate back onto Congress—where even supporters of change face procedural and legal hurdles, including the Supreme Court’s clear reading of the 14th Amendment.
The connection Johnson draws is direct: he links the Supreme Court defeat to a need for Congress to act. and he links “birthright tourism” to what he describes as a devaluation of citizenship. In his framing, the immigration system’s vulnerabilities have real consequences—both for rule-of-law arguments and for national security concerns.
In the same July 5 interview, Johnson shifted to a separate but equally urgent item on the House calendar, saying he will try to pass the SAVE America Act through budget reconciliation. He described the strategy as a way to get the bill through the Senate and, eventually, to the president’s desk.
“We’re going to try one more time on a budget reconciliation bill, and I think that will be the way to get it through the Senate, and finally to the president’s desk,” Johnson said.
The timing has been complicated. House business stalled after a group of Republicans led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, revolted on a procedural motion that led to the chamber being put to recess. Johnson told Fox News that he decided to send members home for July Fourth.
“I just decided it was best to send everybody home to go celebrate July Fourth in their districts. We’ll come back, gather everybody together,” Johnson said. “The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I.”
Budget reconciliation, however, already carries limits that have blocked the bill before. Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled earlier this year that the SAVE America Act violated rules that prevent “extraneous” legislation from being included in the budget process under reconciliation. according to CNN.
For now, Johnson is arguing for action on birthright citizenship and signaling a renewed push on SAVE America—two fights that, in different ways, test whether Republicans can translate Supreme Court rulings and procedural constraints into the legislative wins they want.
Mike Johnson birthright citizenship Supreme Court Donald Trump 14th Amendment birth tourism SAVE America Act budget reconciliation Elizabeth MacDonough Anna Paulina Luna Lindsey Graham Brian Babin