Ohio Republican senator to revive 1993 Harry Reid bill restricting birthright citizenship

Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Republican, announced June 30 that he plans to revive a decades-old proposal from former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country illegally or are not lawful permanent residents. 

Moreno said in a press release he would reintroduce the exact text of the Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993, originally introduced by Reid, a Nevada Democrat. The broader immigration enforcement bill included a birthright citizenship provision that Reid’s office said in 1993 “clarifies that a person born in the United States to an alien mother who is not a lawful resident is not a U.S. citizen,” according to Politifact.

“Before far-left radicals took over the Democrat Party, their leader Harry Reid introduced a great bill to end birthright citizenship, ensure no illegals could vote, and crack down on employers who abuse illegal labor,” Moreno said in the release. “It’s a great bill, so I say let’s vote on it and find out once and for all if Harry Reid would still have a home in the modern Democrat Party.”

The bill would also expand the list of aggravated felonies, strengthen penalties for illegal reentry, require local law enforcement to notify immigration authorities within 72 hours of felony arrests, and enable faster deportation during prison sentences. 

It would also hold airlines and international carriers financially responsible for bringing people into the U.S. without proper documents and require employers to use tamper-proof identification and a telephone verification system to confirm work eligibility, among other provisions.

Moreno’s announcement came shortly after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against President Donald Trump’s executive order attempting to limit birthright citizenship. The court ruled that the order violated the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which grants citizenship to people born in the U.S. and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented. 

>> Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, strikes down Trump executive order <<

Moreno said in a June 30 FOX News interview that he plans to file the bill when the Senate returns from recess July 13. 

During the interview, Moreno said the legislation would highlight two things: “the Democrats of today are nothing like the Democrats of 1993 and, if they choose to reject a bill sponsored by their majority leader that they named an airport in Las Vegas after, then I think my Republican colleagues have no choice — we have to recognize that these Democrats want to systematically destroy this country.” 

In a 1994 Los Angeles Times op-ed, Reid compared the U.S. to a table that is “being overcrowded” and warned that “unless changes are made, our dinner table eventually will collapse, and no one will have security and opportunity,” according to Politifact.

Politifact reported that by the early 2000s, however, Reid had changed his position. In 2006, Reid called the 1993 bill a “low point” of his legislative career and a “travesty,” according to the outlet. The bill never advanced out of committee. 

Several other lawmakers have introduced or promised to introduce similar legislation to end birthright citizenship, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, as Zeale News previously reported. 

For example, Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican and Catholic, said he would introduce an amendment to “restore the original American understanding of citizenship” and would also file legislation to clarify the meaning of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., proposed a constitutional amendment in April to do the same. Paul said the amendment was intended to “protect” American citizenship if the Supreme Court did not address the issue the way he believed it should.

Trump, for his part, has called on lawmakers to pursue legislation in response to the court’s ruling, telling Congress in a Truth Social post that they have his “Complete and Total Support.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice ordered federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations and prosecutions of fraudulent birth tourism schemes in a June 30 memo.