Schmitt Urges HHS, CDC to Close Birth Certificate Loophole Enabling Birthright Citizenship Fraud

U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Erica Schwartz urging the agencies to issue regulations to close a loophole that allows the children of foreign diplomats born in the United States to improperly obtain documentation used to illegally claim American citizenship. Senator Schmitt called on HHS and the CDC to implement anti-fraud birth certificate standards, as directed by Congress in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, to help prevent citizenship fraud and protect the integrity of American citizenship. “Foreign diplomats’ children who illegally claim citizenship by using standard state-issued birth certificates perpetrate a fraud against the American people that degrades the meaning of American citizenship, undermines our sovereignty, and threatens our national security. I therefore urge the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to implement birth-certificate regulations that ensure federal government agencies do not allow foreign diplomats’ children to illegally claim citizenship. We cannot allow our medical records system to become a vector for national security threats,” wrote Senator Schmitt. In the letter, Senator Schmitt requests that HHS and the CDC: Promulgate the birth certificate regulations required under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Establish minimum standards that help prevent fraud in the issuance and acceptance of birth certificates. Ensure federal agencies only accept birth certificates that distinguish between individuals recognized as U.S. citizens at birth under current law and the children of foreign diplomats, who are not granted birthright citizenship. Close documentation loopholes that allow foreign diplomats’ children to improperly obtain Social Security numbers, passports, and other federal documents reserved for U.S. citizens. For more than a century, federal law, judicial precedent, and executive branch policy have recognized that children born in the United States to accredited foreign diplomats are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment and therefore do not acquire citizenship at birth. Despite this longstanding legal principle, Senator Schmitt notes that gaps in the nation’s birth registration system allow these individuals to receive standard birth certificates and later obtain documentation commonly used as proof of U.S. citizenship. This effort builds upon Senator Schmitt’s previous oversight efforts to strengthen enforcement of U.S. citizenship laws, including his recent letter to the Departments of Homeland Security and State requesting additional safeguards to prevent the improper issuance of citizenship documentation to the children of foreign diplomats. Schmitt also introduced a bill to protect the integrity of American citizenship and restore birthright citizenship to only the children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. Read the full letter HERE. ###