Trump plans to end automatic citizenship for children. Will it affect Indians? | Latest News India

In future, children born in the US, but with neither parent being a US national or a permanent resident of the country, could be at risk of not being eligible for automatic citizenship if Donald Trump, the incoming President of the United States, were to sign an executive order.

A draft of the proposed executive order is posted on the official campaign site of Trump and JD Vance, now the Vice President-elect. It reads, “Federal agencies will be directed to require that at least one parent be a US citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic US citizens.”

The plan is to sign the executive order on Day 1 itself, The Times of India reported.

How will Indians be affected?

As stated above, under the executive order, the permanent residency (a green card) of at least one parent, would be one of the ways through which a child would qualify for automatic citizenship.

However, a study by David J Bier, director, immigration studies at Cato Institute, shows the employment-based green card backlog from India (EB-2 and 3 skilled category) crossed one million in March 2023. If factors like death and ageing out are considered, the wait for a green card is 54 years, else it is a whopping 134 years.

This means over four lakh Indians in this category will die before getting their cards. This would also impact more than one lakh children from Indian families when they ‘age out’ (turn 21).

Currently, children not born in the US, and with families caught in the green card backlog, must self-deport at 21 years of age. Alternatively, they must arrange for another visa (like international student visa).

According to the 2022 US census, the country was home to around 4.8 million Indian-Americans. Of them, 34% or 1.6 million were US-born.