S. 4954

119 S4954 IS: Citizenship Act of 2026
 U.S. Senate
 2026-07-13
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 4954  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 13, 2026   Mr. Banks  introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on the Judiciary    A BILL
To declare that any person who enters the United States without authorization or for the purpose of engaging in birth tourism is considered an invader and to amend section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude the children of invaders from birthright citizenship.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Citizenship Act of 2026  .
2.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Section 4 of article IV of the Constitution of the United States imposes a constitutional duty on the United States to  protect each [State] against invasion .
(2)
Section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to  establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization .
(3)
According to James Madison, the naturalization power given to Congress under article I of the Constitution of the United States was designed to protect States from being forced to accept liberal immigration policies.
(4)
Illegal immigration into the United States has become a national security crisis.
(5)
Under the Biden administration, millions of migrants flooded our Nation’s borders or were otherwise permitted to enter the country, including known cartel members, violent criminals, and terrorists.
(6)
President Biden abused emergency temporary immigration programs, such as parole and temporary protected status, to allow millions of otherwise illegal aliens to remain in the United States and receive public benefits.
(7)
The Trump administration has worked hard to secure the southern land border of the United States and is carrying out the largest mass deportation effort in our Nation's history.
(8)
Notwithstanding, such efforts, as many as 15,000,000 illegal aliens remain in the United States.
(9)
Nearly 16 percent of the population of the United States is foreign born and most of the recent increase in foreign births can be attributed to illegal immigration.
(10)
Illegal immigration has downstream consequences for many aspects of American life, including increased housing prices, depressed wages, threats to public safety, and fewer jobs for United States citizens.
(11)
Worldwide, mass migration has increasingly been used by migrants’ countries of origin to exert control over foreign territory, which has been referred to by scholars as the global  weaponization  of migration.
(12)
Some Mexicans view migration to the United States as a method of reconquering territory acquired by the United States during the nineteenth century. Mexican politicians sometimes refer to certain United States cities as  occupied territories  or  migrant land .
(13)
An estimated 1,500,000 nationals of the People's Republic of China have acquired United States citizenship by being born in the United States by surrogates, a practice that has been encouraged by the Chinese Communist Party.
(14)
On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump declared that the mass unlawful movement of persons into the United States constitutes an invasion. The governors of multiple States have also declared a state of invasion at the southern border.
(15)
The United States, at various times, has treated private, non-state actors, including pirates, slave traders, and terrorists, as enemy combatants.
(16)
While millions of illegal aliens remain in the United States and birth tourism is allowed to be exploited by foreign adversaries, this invasion remains ongoing.
(17)
As confirmed by Federal courts and judges, including California v. United States, 104 F.3d 1086, 1091 (9th Cir. 1997); Padavan v. United States, 82 F.3d 23, 28 (2d Cir. 1996); Chiles v. United States, 69 F.3d 1094, 1097 (11th Cir. 1995), and United States v. Abbott, 110 F.4th 700, 726–29 (5th Cir. 2024) (Ho, J., concurring in part), the determination of the existence of an invasion is a nonjusticiable question committed to the political branches and is not reviewable by the Federal courts. Similar to other political questions, a determination of invasion involves  a lack of judicially discoverable and manageable standards  that courts can use to adjudicate such determinations. Zivotofsky ex rel. Zivotofsky v. Clinton, 566 U.S. 189, 195 (2012).
(18)
Children of foreign invaders who are born on United States soil are not entitled to birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
(19)
Birthright citizenship did not apply to children born to invaders under the British common law, and the framers of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment understood the clause to exclude the children of invaders.
(20)
Although the United States Supreme Court broadened the meaning of the Citizenship Clause in Trump v. Barbara, 609 U.S. _ (2026), the court did not hold that children born to invaders are entitled to birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court reaffirmed United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 658 (1898), which held that  children within territory in hostile occupation  are not entitled to birthright citizenship. 169 U.S. 649, 658 (1898).
(21)
It is therefore consistent with the holding in Barbara v. Trump for Congress to invoke its constitutional authority by—
(A)
codifying President Trump’s declaration of an invasion; and
(B)
revoking birthright citizenship from children who are born in the United States to a woman who is unlawfully present or to a woman engaged in birth tourism.
3.
Congressional declarations
(a)
Invaders
Congress declares that all of the following persons are designated invaders while remaining in the United States for purposes of section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by section 4:
(1)
Any person who has not been lawfully admitted to the United States (as defined in section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(A) )).
(2)
Any person who is otherwise unlawfully present under section 212(a)(9)(B)(ii) of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii) ).
(3)
Any person seeking admission to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq. ) who, in the opinion of the consular officer at the time of application for a visa, or in the opinion of the Attorney General at the time of application for admission or adjustment of status, is seeking admission or adjustment of status for the purpose of giving birth to a child in the United States.
(b)
Commercial surrogacy contracts
Congress declares that any person who is a national of a covered nation (as defined in section 4872(f)(2) of title 10, United States Code) and enters into a commercial surrogacy contract with a person in the United States, or with a surrogacy broker who arranges a commercial surrogacy contract with a person in the United States, for the purpose of having a child birthed in the United States shall be designated an invader for purposes of section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by section 4.
(c)
Rules of construction
(1)
Not lawfully admitted
Subsection (a)(1) shall be construed to include all persons who were never lawfully admitted to the United States (as defined in section 101(a)(13)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(13)(A) )), regardless of when such persons entered the United States.
(2)
Not lawfully present
Subsection (a)(2) shall be construed to include all persons unlawfully present under section 212(a)(9)(B)(ii) of such Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii) ), regardless of when such persons entered the United States.
4.
Children of invaders not entitled to birthright citizenship
Section 301(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1401(a) ) is amended to read as follows:
(a)
a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, which shall not include any of the following persons:
(1)
A person who was born to an invader (as defined in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 3(a) of the  Citizenship Act of 2026 ) if such person’s mother was not lawfully admitted to the United States or was otherwise unlawfully present in the United States and such person's father was not a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States at the time of such person’s birth.
(2)
A person who was born to an invader (as defined in section 3(a)(3) of the  Citizenship Act of 2026 ) if such person’s mother sought admission to the United States or adjustment of status in the United States for the purpose of giving birth to a child in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States at the time of such person’s birth.
(3)
A person born to an invader (as defined in section 3(b) of the  Citizenship Act of 2026 ) as the result of a commercial surrogacy contract.
 .
5.
Judicial review
No court is authorized to review a determination by the President or by Congress of the existence of an invasion.
6.
Rules of construction
(a)
Jurisdiction
Nothing in this Act may be construed to revoke the criminal or civil jurisdiction of the United States, or of any State, over invaders for violations of Federal or State law.
(b)
Military force
Nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize the use of military force under the War Powers Resolution ( 50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq. ).
7.
Effective date
This Act shall apply to all children born after the date of the enactment of this Act to a person who, at the time of such birth, was designated as an invader pursuant to section 3.
8.
Severability
Any provision of this Act, including any amendment made by this Act, which is held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any person or circumstance, shall be construed so as to give it the maximum effect permitted by law, unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or unenforceability, in which event such provision shall be deemed severable from this Act and shall not affect the remainder of this Act, or the application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar circumstances.