The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is moving to tighten the requirements for obtaining passports for children born in the United States, in a development that could place greater scrutiny on the citizenship and immigration status of parents.
Under a proposed State Department directive, parents or legal guardians applying for passports on behalf of minors would have to provide documentation showing their own U.S. citizenship or immigration status.
Acceptable documents could include a U.S. passport, birth certificate, permanent resident card or an I-94 immigration record, according to draft guidance reviewed by Reuters.
The proposed requirement represents a departure from the current passport application process, under which parents generally provide proof of their relationship to the child and photo identification, while declaring their citizenship status without necessarily submitting supporting immigration documents.
The move is linked to Trump’s broader effort to restrict the circumstances under which children born in the United States automatically receive citizenship.
The administration has argued that the changes are necessary to ensure that passport decisions reflect its interpretation of U.S. citizenship laws and to combat so-called “birth tourism,” where foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth.
However, the proposal is already facing legal resistance. Lawyers representing children who could be affected have filed class-action lawsuits seeking to prevent the administration from implementing the policy.
The legal dispute comes after courts previously challenged Trump’s attempts to restrict birthright citizenship, with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against his earlier approach.
If the new passport requirements take effect, parents seeking U.S. passports for their children could face additional documentation and scrutiny, potentially making the passport application process more complicated for families with mixed citizenship or immigration backgrounds.
