Congress remains on recess this month, but the Trump Administration has not slowed down.
From cracking down on birth tourism to demanding accountability for taxpayer-funded benefits going to non-citizens, the last couple of weeks have delivered tangible wins for the American people.
1 – Ending Birth Tourism
On August 6, President Trump signed Executive Order 14419, “Ending Birth Tourism,” directing the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security to shut down the exploitation of America’s immigration system by foreign nationals who travel here for the sole purpose of giving birth on U.S. soil so their children can become American citizens.
Under the order, visas will be denied and revoked for travelers found to be entering the U.S. for birth tourism purposes, and the shady operators who profit off this scheme will be barred and targeted for enforcement. The order preserves exceptions for humanitarian and national-interest cases.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved immediately to put the Executive Order into action, standing up a new Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force. As it stands, the task force has already revoked more than 600 visas tied to birth tourism networks.
This is exactly the type of follow-through conservatives have been demanding for years.
2 – Cutting Off Taxpayer-Funded Benefits for Illegal Aliens
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been sounding the alarm on illegal aliens accessing taxpayer-funded benefits they were never entitled to—something conservatives have been pushing Washington to tackle for decades.
The Trump Administration is pushing for tighter verification and real accountability to ensure that federal taxpayers’ money is going to American citizens, not subsidizing those who broke our immigration laws to get here.
Under the new rules proposed by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, illegal aliens would be disqualified from receiving cash refunds from tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Adoption Tax Credit.
3 – Tightening the “Public Charge” Rule for Green Cards
Lastly, on August 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new policy guidance implementing a stricter “public charge” framework for green card applicants. The new guidance, set to take effect next month, restores broad discretion for immigration officers to weigh the full range of public benefits an applicant has used, replacing the narrow and less strict Biden-era standard that only counted cash assistance and long-term institutional care.
Going forward, USCIS officers will evaluate the totality of an applicant’s circumstances—including age, health, financial resources, education, and job skills—to determine whether someone applying for a green card is likely to become primarily dependent on government support. In other words, foreigners applying for lawful permanent residence will need to demonstrate they can stand on their own two feet and not become a drain on the taxpayer.
The Ball is in Congress’s Court
These are major wins for the American people. But they are executive actions—not law. Unless Congress acts to codify President Trump’s immigration reforms, all of these wins remain at risk of being rolled back with a different White House.
Over a year and a half into the 119th Congress, the Congress still has not taken up the historic H.R. 2, “The Secure the Border Act,” which passed the House during the 118th Congress in 2023. That bill became the standard-bearer legislation in the fight against the Biden Border Crisis.
The good news is that the substance of H.R. 2 has been reintroduced by Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) as H.R. 9773, now named “The Permanent Trump Secure Border Act.” This bill would codify many of President Trump’s signature border policies into permanent law—tightening asylum eligibility, ending catch-and-release, and increasing penalties for visa overstays and unlawful entry—so that no future administration can simply reverse them by executive action.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced H.R. 9773 in a party-line vote on July 21. What remains unclear is whether House leadership will bring it to the floor for a vote in September in time to get it to the President’s desk by the end of the year.
President Trump has done his part. Now it’s time for Congress to finish the job.
ICYMI…
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- Paul Sperry in RealClearInvestigations on the rise of radical Islamists’ political power in the U.S.: A Call to Power: Islamic Leaders See Ballot Box as Path to Paradise
- John Eastman on reviving the Constitution’s Spending Clause limits in The American Mind: The $40 Trillion Hole