Territorial Birthright Citizenship Clarification (HR9724)

Current understanding

HR9724 is a House bill that would clarify how U.S. birthright citizenship laws apply in the U.S. territories (e.g., Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands) and restrict foreign nationals from obtaining U.S. citizenship through births occurring in those territories. Practical effect if enacted: children born in U.S. territories to certain foreign nationals could be excluded from automatic citizenship or the pathway narrowed, and travel-for-birth in territories would be discouraged. Status: introduced.

Evidence log

• 2025-05-13 — Born in the USA Act of 2025: cross-connection with born-in-the-usa-act-2025: Related legislative effort addressing scope of birthright citizenship. (novelty: 2)
• 2025-01-29 — Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025: cross-connection with birthright-citizenship-act-2025: Complementary legislative approaches: HR569 targets citizenship acquisition in the states, while HR9724 addresses the same policy question as applied in U.S. territories. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-07-16 — To clarify United States birthright citizenship laws in the territories and combat foreign nationals who are seeking citizenship in the United States territories.: cross-connection with birth-tourism-inadmissibility-act-s5023: Both target birth-tourism pathways to U.S. citizenship — S5023 through INA inadmissibility grounds for those seeking U.S.-born children, HR9724 by narrowing the territorial route specifically. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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