Nearly a dozen Texans in Congress are filing bills to end birthright citizenship in an attempt to deliver on one of President Donald Trump's executive orders.
A bill filed by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Woodville) would limit automatic citizenship to those born in the U.S. with at least one parent who’s a citizen, which goes against a right enshrined by the 14th Amendment. Changing the Constitution appeals to some Texans.
"I don't think it's right that having a baby here automatically makes them a citizen," one man said.
"I think it's really a fallacy, I guess, to say that what we're going to have is people just coming here to have babies," a woman who supports to move added.
So far, nine Texas Republicans have signed on to sponsor the bill, but Democrats are fighting back. A group of 22 Democratic state attorneys general sued the Trump administration over his executive order.
One expert said there's a chance red states and blue states could have different laws around birthright citizenship.
"So it could be possible that in a state like Texas, for example, that the state agency is directed not to issue birth certificates," Austin immigration attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch said. "But they're going to have to start asking parents about their immigration status before making those determinations"
She said parents may not want to answer, and in the meantime, it's possible parents with babies who need documents for emergency medical care, for example, won't get them.
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