Trump’s order to end birthright citizenship has Punjabis worried

President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship to children born in the US, irrespective of the parents’ illegal immigration or temporary visa status, has Punjabis worried.

Over the years, hundreds of families have used the means to secure natural citizenship for their kids. For parents planning to head to the US for birth tourism, the change in the policy, which is set to go into effect 30 days after the issuing of order, are in a dilemma.

“I do not think it is advisable for any parent with this kind of a plan to move to the US as things remain dicey. A similar issue had cropped up with my friend in early 2020. The couple planned to obtain US citizenship for their second child. As they were set to leave, flights were cancelled in the wake of pandemic. The baby had to be delivered here,” said Nitin Sharma, whose both sons aged 2 and 5 years are US citizens by virtue of their birth in New York.

“We had gone to the US to get birthright citizenship for my kids. If I spent lakhs on two deliveries in the US, I shall be able to save crores when my sons will study there in the next 15 years or so,” said Sharma, hoping that the order may face legal hurdles.

Ludhiana-based Harpreet Kohli said, “We have three kids. Only the youngest one is a US citizen. Had we known earlier that the US allowed birthright citizenship, we would have followed the same process for our two elder kids.”

Jalandhar-based Manveen Khaira, whose twins were born three years ago in the US, said, “I was full-term pregnant when I boarded the flight. Carrying twins, I took special care to hide the fact during my US visit.”