Republicans Revive Harry Reid’s 1993 Push to End Birthright Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants

The Supreme Court’s decision (5-4) striking down President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship has reignited debate over the 14th Amendment while highlighting the growing threat posed by birth tourism to American national sovereignty and security, prompting Republicans to revive a surprising historical precedent: former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s own 1993 legislation aimed at ending automatic citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. 

As Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin noted in a widely circulated post, Reid’s “Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993” included a provision clarifying that a child born in the United States to a mother who was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident would not be considered “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States—and therefore would not automatically receive citizenship. Reid argued at the time that “no sane country” would offer a “reward for being an illegal immigrant” in this manner by granting full access to public benefits. 

The bill stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee under then-Chairman Joe Biden and never advanced. Reid later distanced himself from the provision, but the resurfacing of his earlier position underscores how views on immigration have radically shifted within the Democratic Party. As Nevada Democratic Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen celebrated Tuesday’s ruling, Republicans are planning to codify Trump’s executive order using the power of their congressional majority. 

According to a 2011 article from the Center for Immigration Studies:

Reid’s bill did more than just narrow the focus of the Citizenship Clause. The bill was written to significantly reduce annual flows of legal immigration, increase penalties related to illegal immigration, prevent the admission of aliens likely to need welfare, crack down on asylum fraud, and to meet other goals as explained in the following press release issued by his office on August 5, 1993:

In response to increased terrorism and abuse of social programs by aliens, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today introduced the first and only comprehensive immigration reform bill in Congress.

Currently, an alien living illegally in the United States often pays no taxes but receives unemployment, welfare, free medical care and other federal benefits. Recent terrorist acts, including the World Trade Center bombing, have underscored the need to keep violent criminals out of the country.

Reid’s bill, the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993, overhauls the nation’s immigration laws and calls for a massive scale-down of immigrants allowed into the country from approximately 800,000 to 300,000.

The bill also changes asylum laws to prevent phony asylum seekers. Reid said the U.S. open door policy is being abused at the expense of honest, working citizens.

“We are a country founded upon fairness and justice,” Reid said. “An individual in real threat of torture or long-term incarceration because of his or her political beliefs can still seek asylum. But this bill closes the door to those who want to abuse America’s inherent generosity and legal system.”

Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, Republican senators were advancing targeted reforms. Senators Bernie Moreno (R-OH) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are prominent cosponsors of S. 304, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025. The bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to define “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States at birth more precisely, generally requiring at least one parent to be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or in certain active-duty military roles. 

Senator Bernie Moreno, who immigrated legally from Colombia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been outspoken on the issue. He has argued that children born to parents unlawfully present in the United States are not automatically American citizens “because the U.S. government doesn’t actually have authority over that person” in the constitutional sense. Moreno views the legislation as essential to removing incentives for illegal immigration and birth tourism while honoring the legal pathway he himself followed.

Senator Mike Lee, a leading constitutional originalist and cosponsor, has emphasized Congress’s role in clarifying the original meaning of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Lee supports legislative action to ensure citizenship is granted consistent with those who owe full allegiance to the United States—not as an unintended reward for unlawful entry or strategic birth tourism schemes that undermine national sovereignty.

Taking to social media, the Senators expressed their support of Reid’s 1993 legislation that goes further than the Birthright Citizenship Act :

That right-wing lunatic, Senator Harry Reid, recognized that unrestricted birthright citizenship is insane

We should pass his 1993 bill, perhaps naming it the “Harry Reid Act”

Who’s on board? https://t.co/XXnu93dp09

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) June 30, 2026

I will reintroduce this exact bill when I return to DC. Let’s see how today’s DC Democrats will vote when offered the ideas of the Democrat party that used to love this country and the American people! https://t.co/ezw50vEaoD

— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) June 30, 2026

The push comes as states like California continue to grapple with the fiscal burdens of expansive interpretations of birthright citizenship, including costs for education, healthcare, and welfare services tied to “anchor babies” and foreign birth tourism fueled by “sanctuary” policies enacted by the Democratic supermajority.

The Globe has extensively covered the burdens illegal immigration has on the state’s fiscal health. As we reported in November 2025:

The likely reason for the double-digit increase in federal aid to California is due to the expansion of Medicaid to include enrollment of illegal aliens. In January, California became the first state to expand Medicaid to include all illegal immigrants residing in the state, flooding the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, with as many as 700,000 illegal immigrants despite a record $68 billion state budget deficit.

According to Attorney General Rob Bonta: “California’s Medi-Cal program provides healthcare coverage for one out of every three Californians, including more than two million noncitizens. (emphasis added by The Globe). Noncitizens include green card holders, refugees, individuals who hold temporary protected status, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival recipients, and others. Not all noncitizens are eligible for federally funded Medi-Cal services, and so California uses state-only funds to provide a version of the Medi-Cal program to all eligible state residents, regardless of their immigration status.”

In California, pregnant women, including those who are undocumented, are eligible for full Medi-Cal coverage during pregnancy and for one year after the pregnancy ends. This coverage, which includes prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care, is state-funded and has been in place for decades.

Harry Reid’s 1993 bill, though ultimately unsuccessful, reflected a bipartisan recognition in an earlier era that automatic citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, or those exploiting birth tourism, created perverse incentives. One need not look farther than Irvine, CA in 2019 where Chinese nationals ran a birth tourism outfit out of numerous apartments:

Now that the Supreme Court has given its blessing to birth tourism, it's probably worth revisiting this story from 2019.

A Chinese national named Dongyuan Li ran a company called You Win USA Vacation Services that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the U.S. to give birth so…

— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) June 30, 2026

With the Supreme Court decision now placing the onus on Congress, Senators Moreno, Lee, and their republican colleagues see an opportunity to finish what Reid once started, delivering meaningful immigration reform that prioritizes American interests and sovereignty.

California Globe will continue tracking this legislation and its implications for California taxpayers and national security.