In the United States, unlike most countries in the world, being born in the country is not required to run for or hold any office except for the President and Vice President. Anyone from any country in the world who completes the legal process to become a U.S. citizen can hold any position except President or Vice President. Whether it is Chief Justice, Senator, Governor, or Congressman, the law does not prohibit them. According to Pew Research Center data, 45 U.S. Senators in history have been foreign-born. According to the latest Pew Research Center study, as of 2025, there are 19 foreign-born members of Congress, including 2 Senators. In the previous 118th Congress, there were 18 foreign-born voting members, including Senator Mazie Hirono, who was born outside the U.S. Throughout U.S. history, many foreign-born members have served in the Senate and Congress. No foreign-born person has ever served as a Governor in U.S. history.

According to Pew Research Center analysis, at least 15% of the current U.S. Congress members are immigrants or children of immigrants. This percentage has not changed from the previous Congress, marking the first time in the past four Congresses that the number of immigrants and their children did not increase. In total, at least 80 lawmakers are foreign-born or have at least one parent born in another country, including 61 in the House and 19 in the Senate. The research is based on voting members’ data as of January 3, 2025, the first day of the new Congress, according to Pew Research Center.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship has sparked widespread legal challenges and created deep uncertainty among immigrant families. For the past 160 years, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has ensured automatic U.S. citizenship for anyone born in the country. Trump’s executive order seeks to reinterpret this, proposing to deny citizenship to children of immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and children of parents in the U.S. on temporary visas. The policy would apply only to children born after February 19, 2025, not to those born before that date. According to Trump, the automatic citizenship of children born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is creating a major crisis.

Birthright citizenship is not a universal practice globally. The United States is one of about 30 countries that grants automatic citizenship to anyone born on its territory. In contrast, many countries in Asia, Europe, and Africa grant citizenship only based on parental descent, not birthplace. Some countries apply both principles, granting citizenship to children born on the territory if the parents are permanent residents. Historically, some European countries encouraged immigration this way, while in other cases, indigenous peoples or former slaves and their descendants were given citizenship.

In recent years, many countries have amended their citizenship laws to limit or end birthright citizenship due to concerns over immigration, national identity, and so-called “birth tourism.” For example, India previously granted citizenship to anyone born on its territory but changed the law to restrict citizenship due to illegal immigration concerns. Since 2004, a child born in India can obtain citizenship only if: both parents are Indian, or one parent is Indian and the other is not an illegal immigrant.

Many African countries originally adopted similar laws under colonial rule but modified them after independence. Today, in most African countries, a child must have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident to obtain citizenship.

Asian countries still have stricter rules. In China, Malaysia, and Singapore, citizenship is granted only based on descent. Europe has also made significant changes; Ireland was the last European country to grant unconditional birthright citizenship, which it ended after a 2004 referendum where 79% of voters supported requiring at least one parent to be a citizen, permanent resident, or legally residing.

The Dominican Republic implemented one of the strictest changes in 2010, amending its constitution to deny citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants. In 2013, the Supreme Court confirmed that this law applied retroactively to 1929, leaving tens of thousands of people of Haitian descent stateless. Advocacy groups warned against the law’s human rights impact.

Legal experts say Trump cannot block birthright citizenship solely by executive order. The order seeks to reinterpret the Constitution. Changing it would require two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and approval by three-fourths of U.S. states. Currently, the executive order is temporarily blocked, but federal lawyers plan to appeal, so the matter may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to Pew Research Center, in 2016, about 250,000 children were born in the U.S. to unauthorized immigrant parents, which was 36% fewer than the peak year of 2007. As of 2022, approximately 1.2 million children born to unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. obtained citizenship.

A study by the Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute published in May predicts that ending birthright citizenship could increase the unauthorized population in the U.S. to 2.7 million by 2045 and 5.4 million by 2095.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review the legality of Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship has long been a constitutional principle granting automatic citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. Trump’s order sought to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country illegally.

Recently, a U.S. Senator proposed a bill requiring proof of renunciation of foreign citizenship after obtaining U.S. citizenship. Earlier, a Congressman proposed that candidates for Congress must also renounce foreign citizenship. Both proposals require passage by both the Senate and the House of Representatives to become law.