The proposal is part of President Donald Trump's broader effort to restrict birthright citizenship and follows his August 6 executive order targeting what the administration describes as “birth tourism” and expanding the circumstances in which birthright citizenship could be denied.
“President Trump has been unequivocal that this Administration will protect the meaning and value of American citizenship, full stop,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Reuters, adding that the passport adjudication process should reflect that approach.
What would change under the proposal?
Under current US passport rules, parents applying for a passport for a minor child born in the United States must establish their relationship with the child and provide government-issued photo identification.
Parents also provide information about their citizenship status on passport application forms. However, they are not routinely required to submit documents proving their immigration status.
The proposed State Department guidance would change that process.
“The Department will require parental information and evidence of parental citizenship or immigration status” when determining whether an applicant is covered by Trump's executive order, the draft guidance reportedly states.
If implemented, parents or legal guardians could be required to submit documents such as a valid US passport or birth certificate to establish citizenship, or an I-94 form or permanent resident card to establish lawful immigration status.
Why is the administration seeking the change?
The information would be used to determine whether a US-born child qualifies for citizenship under the administration's interpretation of Trump's executive order.
According to Reuters, the proposed directive would deny citizenship to children in certain circumstances, including where a parent works for a foreign government in the US, has engaged in fraud or a commercial transaction aimed at obtaining citizenship, or is classified as an “alien enemy.”
Birthright citizenship order faces legal challenges
The proposed passport changes come as Trump's efforts to restrict birthright citizenship face legal challenges in federal courts.
Attorneys representing babies and families who could be affected by the policy have filed class-action lawsuits seeking to prevent Trump's latest order from taking effect.
One of the cases is before US District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, a Biden appointee.
During a recent hearing, Boardman expressed skepticism about what she described as Trump's unprecedented order and allowed the plaintiffs to amend their lawsuit so she could consider whether to block the policy.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that issuing a restraining order would be premature because federal agencies had not yet publicly issued detailed guidance on how the executive order would be implemented.
Trump's long-running push to end birthright bitizenship
Restricting birthright citizenship has been a major part of Trump's broader immigration agenda.
Trump's original executive order sought to limit automatic citizenship for children born in the US unless at least one parent was a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a green card holder.
The policy has faced constitutional challenges over the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The US Supreme Court previously ruled against Trump's attempt, with a 6-3 decision finding that the order was unlawful and that the majority of justices concluded it conflicted with the constitutional guarantee of citizenship.