A new legislative push to fundamentally alter how the United States grants citizenship to children born on its soil has officially begun in Congress. U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced House Resolution 11, titled the Birthright Citizenship Limits for Aliens and Illegal Migrants (CLAIM) Act of 2026. The bill proposes strict statutory exceptions to the historic standard of automatic citizenship at birth.
The introduction of the legislation comes on the heels of a public push by President Donald Trump and recent legal commentary from the judicial branch.
After federal courts, including the Supreme Court, addressed the limits of executive power over immigration rules, lawmakers have moved to address the issue directly through federal statute. Justice Brett Kavanaugh previously noted that defining or modifying these citizenship standards falls under the constitutional responsibility of the legislative branch rather than the court system.
Joining Representative Steube as original co-sponsored backers of the bill are Republican Representatives Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
“For too long, Congress has ignored its responsibility to address the abuse of our nation’s birthright citizenship laws. President Trump has called on Congress to act, and Justice Kavanaugh made clear that this is a question for the legislative branch, not the courts,” Representative Steube said in a statement accompanying the bill’s introduction. “The Birthright CLAIM Act answers that call by restoring common-sense limits on birthright citizenship, protecting taxpayers from abuse, closing dangerous loopholes in our immigration laws, and ensuring that American citizenship remains a privilege reserved for those who owe allegiance to the United States.”
If passed into law, the Birthright CLAIM Act would explicitly amend Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the new text, an individual born within the borders of the United States would be barred from automatic citizenship if both parents are non-citizens or non-nationals, and if at least one parent is unlawfully present in the country or holds a temporary, non-permanent legal status.
Supporters of the bill point to federal investigations and a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee inquiry into the phenomenon known as “birth tourism.” These reports highlighted organized operations that assisted foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. specifically to give birth, resulting in unpaid hospital bills funded by American taxpayers through public healthcare networks.
The proposed law introduces a strict paternity verification mandate. When a child is born to an undocumented mother and the claim to U.S. citizenship relies entirely on the father being a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, a certified DNA test would be mandatory before any official documentation is issued. Government agencies would be legally blocked from issuing a U.S. passport, social security number, or certificate of citizenship until the biological relationship is verified. The bill explicitly states that the financial cost of this DNA testing must be fully covered by the parents or legal guardians.
Beyond children born within the United States, the bill also places restrictions on children born overseas to families with one U.S. citizen parent. It expands the physical residency mandate for that American parent, doubling the necessary time they must have physically lived inside the United States from five years to ten years before they can legally pass their citizenship down to their child. Additionally, at least three of those ten years must fall within the immediate five-year window right before the child’s birth.
The piece of legislation has been formally referred to the appropriate House committee for initial review, where it will face debate and potential revision before it can move forward to a full vote on the House floor.
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