President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would request the US Supreme Court to reconsider its recent ruling affirming birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, citing what he called shocking new evidence: a Texas hospital advertising maternity services to expectant mothers in Mexico via two billboards.
Trump's claims and reaction
“Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with ‘Deliveries starting at $4000’,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, appearing to exaggerate a Fox News report about just two billboards. He further claimed that the justices “will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision.”
The Supreme Court last month rejected Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling that it violated the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” The court rarely grants rehearing requests and has not done so after issuing a ruling in an argued case in decades.
The hospital billboard controversy
Fox News confirmed that Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, Texas, located about five miles from the border with Reynosa, Mexico, had advertised “delivery packages” on two Spanish-language billboards in Mexico and on social media. The report was based on a photograph posted in April by Mayra Flores, a Trump-backed former Republican congresswoman from Texas, who is running to return to Congress. The image resurfaced on social media as Trump supporters called for a shutdown of pregnant women entering the US after the Supreme Court ruling.
Flores, who said she took the photo in Reynosa, initially expressed outrage that the prices—$3,950 for a natural birth or $5,525 for a caesarean section—were far lower than typical US costs. She offered no proof that the prices were exclusive to foreign citizens.
Hospital's response
Mission Regional Medical Center told the Guardian that the billboards and a website—havemybabyinTEXAS.com—“are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding.” The hospital stated: “Mission Regional Medical Center, a public nonprofit hospital, is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare and expanding access for the communities we serve. We do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”
The marketing materials did not mention US citizenship. Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered an investigation on Tuesday, accusing the hospital of promoting “birth tourism.” The hospital also deleted an Instagram post in Spanish inviting women “living abroad” to give birth in South Texas, without referencing citizenship.
Broader context
Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship on his first day back in office as part of a broader crackdown on immigration. The Supreme Court’s rejection of that order has sparked ongoing debate and legal challenges.
