Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno Introduces Bill to End Birthright Citizenship, Invokes Late Democrat Harry Reid

Since the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling on June 30 struck down President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship, the fight has shifted from the White House to Capitol Hill. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, introduced a bill this past week called the Harry Reid Immigration Stabilization Act, aiming to accomplish through legislation what the courts said Trump couldn't do by fiat.

Moreno's bill is named for the late Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, who introduced similar legislation back in 1993. Moreno is using that history as a cudgel against today's Democratic Party, according to the Daily Signal.

"Democrats of the past like Harry Reid knew birthright citizenship is a gift to foreign adversaries," Moreno said. "Today, the party that used to advocate for working Americans has become the anti-American party."

What the Bill Actually Does

The legislation goes well beyond birthright citizenship. According to the Daily Signal, it would cap refugee admissions, overhaul the asylum system, and streamline deportations. It also makes it a federal crime for non-citizens to vote in any federal, state, or local election.

The core provision would clarify that the 14th Amendment's citizenship guarantee doesn't extend to children born to parents who are in the country illegally. That's the same territory Trump's January 2025 executive order tried to cover, and it's the exact language the Supreme Court rejected.

Why the Court Rejected Trump's Approach

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in Trump v. Barbara, joined by the court's three liberal justices plus Trump appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, according to a CNN transcript of coverage from the day of the ruling. Roberts called citizenship "the right to have rights" and said the 14th Amendment's authors extended that promise to every free-born person in the country.

The amendment, ratified in 1868, guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. who is "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," with narrow exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and children born to members of an occupying enemy force, according to Japan Today's report on the decision.

Cecillia Wang, the ACLU's national legal director who argued the case, said the ruling "reaffirms a fundamental American promise" and that "a president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat," per Japan Today.

Trump reacted on Truth Social at the time, calling the decision "too bad for our Country" and urging Congress to act, according to the CNN transcript. That's precisely the opening Moreno is now trying to fill.

The Kavanaugh Opening

Kavanaugh voted with the majority to strike down Trump's executive order, but he wrote separately to say Congress, not the president, has the power to act.

Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, pointed to Kavanaugh's concurrence as the legal roadmap Moreno is following. Kavanaugh wrote that Congress could, "consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment," amend existing immigration statute or pass new legislation creating exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to parents unlawfully or temporarily in the country, according to the Daily Signal.

"This would sort of change the dynamics a little bit because Congress has more authority over this than simply an executive order," Mehlman said.

The court didn't necessarily rule that birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants is constitutionally untouchable forever. It ruled that a president can't rewrite the practice unilaterally. Whether Congress has that power under the 14th Amendment is a genuinely unresolved legal question, and reasonable legal minds, including a sitting Supreme Court justice, think it might.

The Math Problem

Even with that opening, Mehlman called any legislative effort a "long shot." A bill needs 60 votes to clear the Senate filibuster, and Republicans don't have anywhere close to that margin on an issue this polarizing.

Mehlman said "more power to Moreno for trying," but predicted that if the bill somehow passed, it would immediately be challenged in court, forcing the Supreme Court to weigh in again, this time on whether Congress, rather than the president, can narrow birthright citizenship.

Ahead of the June ruling, experts estimated Trump's original order could have affected the legal status of up to 250,000 babies born each year in the U.S., according to Japan Today, and would have required families of millions more children to prove citizenship status.

Moreno's bill has been introduced. It has not been scheduled for a committee vote or floor action. Whether Senate Republican leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson's House counterparts, will make it a priority given the certain filibuster fight remains an open question. Trump himself, after the June ruling, said he wants Congress to act and the courts to take up the issue again, according to the CNN transcript, meaning the White House and Moreno are, for now, aligned on strategy even if the votes aren't there yet.