Birthright Citizenship Clarification Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9633 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9633

To amend section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify
  those classes of individuals born in the United States who are not
          nationals or citizens of the United States at birth.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2026

 Mr. McGuire introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to clarify
  those classes of individuals born in the United States who are not
          nationals or citizens of the United States at birth.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Birthright Citizenship Clarification
Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the phrase ``subject to the jurisdiction thereof'' in
        section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the
        United States reflects a principle of allegiance and obedience,
        not mere geography;
            (2) United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898),
        involved a person born in the United States to alien parents
        permanently domiciled and residing in the United States, and
        described historical exceptions for children of foreign
        sovereigns or their ministers, persons born on foreign public
        ships, children of enemies within and during a hostile
        occupation, and children of members of Indian Tribes;
            (3) Congress later addressed the Indian Tribe exception
        through the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 and carried forward
        the words ``born in the United States, and subject to the
        jurisdiction thereof'' in the Nationality Act of 1940 and the
        Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, now codified at
        section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
        1401(a)); and
            (4) Justice Kavanaugh, concurring in the judgment and
        dissenting in part in Trump v. Barbara, concluded that
        Executive Order 14160 conflicted with section 301(a), but
        explained that Congress could establish exceptions for children
        born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the
        country; this Act exercises that authority to clarify
        citizenship at birth and deter birth tourism and visa
        manipulation.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to preserve in Federal statutory law the historical
        exceptions to citizenship at birth for children of foreign
        sovereigns or their ministers, persons born on foreign public
        ships, and children of enemies within and during a hostile
        occupation of part of the territory of the United States;
            (2) to amend section 301(a) of the Immigration and
        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401(a)) in the manner identified by
        Justice Kavanaugh by establishing statutory exceptions for
        persons born in the United States to foreign citizens
        unlawfully or temporarily present in the United States; and
            (3) to define lawful but temporary presence by reference to
        temporary presence categories reflected in Executive Order
        14160, including the Visa Waiver Program and student, work,
        tourist, and other nonimmigrant visas.

SEC. 4. CITIZENSHIP AT BIRTH CLARIFICATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 1401(a) of title 8, United States Code, is
amended by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the
following:
    ``: Provided, That a person born in the United States shall not be
considered born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and
shall not be a national or citizen of the United States at birth under
this subsection, if the person is described in subsection (i);''.
    (b) Certain Persons Not Subject to Jurisdiction.--Section 1401 of
title 8, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:
    ``(i) Certain Persons Not Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United
States.--
            ``(1) Persons described.--For purposes of subsection (a), a
        person born in the United States shall not be considered born
        subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and shall not
        be a national or citizen of the United States at birth under
        subsection (a), if, at the time of such person's birth--
                    ``(A) the person is a child of a foreign sovereign
                or a minister of a foreign sovereign;
                    ``(B) the person is born on a foreign public ship;
                    ``(C) the person is a child of an enemy within and
                during a hostile occupation of any part of the
                territory of the United States;
                    ``(D) the person's mother is an alien who is
                unlawfully present in the United States, and the
                person's father is not, at the time of such person's
                birth, a citizen or national of the United States or an
                alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence; or
                    ``(E) the person's mother is an alien whose
                presence in the United States is lawful but temporary,
                and the person's father is not, at the time of such
                person's birth, a citizen or national of the United
                States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent
                residence.
            ``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) The term `alien' has the meaning given such
                term in section 101(a)(3).
                    ``(B) The term `alien lawfully admitted for
                permanent residence' has the meaning given such term in
                section 101(a)(20).
                    ``(C) The term `mother' means the immediate female
                biological progenitor.
                    ``(D) The term `father' means the immediate male
                biological progenitor.
                    ``(E) The term `foreign public ship' means a vessel
                or aircraft owned, operated, or commanded by a foreign
                sovereign and used exclusively for a sovereign, public,
                noncommercial governmental purpose.
                    ``(F) The term `hostile occupation' means the
                actual hostile control of any part of the territory of
                the United States by the Armed Forces, agents, or
                instrumentalities of a foreign enemy during a war,
                invasion, or armed attack against the United States.
                    ``(G) The term `minister of a foreign sovereign'
                means an ambassador, public minister, diplomatic agent,
                or other official representative of a foreign sovereign
                who is recognized by the United States and entitled to
                diplomatic immunity under Federal law or treaty
                obligation. For purposes of this subsection, the term
                `foreign sovereign' means a foreign monarch, head of
                state, head of government, or other sovereign authority
                of a foreign state recognized by the United States.
                    ``(H) The term `unlawfully present' means, with
                respect to an alien, that the alien--
                            ``(i) is present in the United States
                        without having been admitted or paroled;
                            ``(ii) remains in the United States after
                        the expiration of the period of stay authorized
                        by the Secretary of Homeland Security or the
                        Attorney General;
                            ``(iii) is present in the United States in
                        violation of the terms or conditions of
                        admission, parole, status, classification, or
                        other authorization to remain; or
                            ``(iv) otherwise lacks lawful immigration
                        status under the immigration laws.
                    ``(I) The term `lawful but temporary' means, with
                respect to the presence of an alien in the United
                States, presence that does not constitute lawful
                admission for permanent residence and that is pursuant
                to--
                            ``(i) the Visa Waiver Program under section
                        217; or
                            ``(ii) a nonimmigrant visa or nonimmigrant
                        classification under section 101(a)(15),
                        including a student, exchange, tourist,
                        business, work, temporary worker, crewman,
                        transit, treaty trader, treaty investor,
                        intracompany transferee, or other temporary
                        nonimmigrant visa or classification.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION.

    (a) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall apply to
persons born in the United States on or after the date that is 30 days
after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Prospective Application.--Nothing in this Act may be construed
to deny or impair citizenship or nationality at birth to any person
born before the date described in subsection (a).

SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the
application of such provision or amendment to any person or
circumstance is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the
remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the
application of such provision or amendment to any other person or
circumstance shall not be affected.
                                 <all>