FACT CHECK: Do Donald Trump’s Proposed Immigration Policies Affect His Son Barron’s Citizenship?

A viral post shared on Threads claims President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed immigration policies would affect his son Barron’s citizenship.

Verdict: False

The claim is false. A U.S. immigration law expert denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check:

Barron Trump was seen spending time with his parents at their Mar-a-Lago home ahead of Thanksgiving, according to a recent video from TMZ. Barron, 18, is a freshman at New York University’s Stern School of Business, The Independent reported.

The Threads post, which has received over 1,000 likes as of writing, claims Trump’s proposed immigration policies would affect his son Barron’s citizenship.

“Baron [sic] Trump was born [on] March 20, 2006. Melania became an American citizen [on] July 28, 2006 so…. She was not an American citizen when he was born. So Baron [sic] was not born to an American mother… doesn’t that go against his immigration laws?,” the post reads.

The claim is false. The post appears to refer to a May 2023 video posted on Trump’s official website in which he stated his intentions to sign an executive order to “end automatic citizenship for children of illegal aliens” on day one of his second term. According to Trump’s website, the policy will apply to children of illegal aliens “going forward,” meaning it is not retroactive.

“[The executive order] will make clear that going forward, the children of illegal aliens will not be granted automatic citizenship, and should not be issued passports, Social Security numbers, or be eligible for certain taxpayer funded welfare benefits,” the website indicates.

Likewise, the executive order “will direct federal agencies to require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident for their future children to become automatic U.S. citizens.” (RELATED: Did Trump’s Border Czar Pick Say ‘We Won’t Have To Press One For English?’)

In addition, according to BBC News, Melania Trump was approved for the “Einstein Visa” or EB-1 in 2001, making her a lawful permanent resident at the time of Barron’s birth. Melania Trump became a citizen in 2006, the outlet indicated.

Furthermore, Erin Corcoran, a U.S. immigration law expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the claim’s validity to Check Your Fact via email.

“Barron’s immigration status would not be affected.  He was born in the U.S to a U.S. citizen father who was married to Melania.  So even though she was not a [U.S. citizen] at the time of his birth he is still a US citizen,” Corcoran said.

Besides Check Your Fact, USA Today, Lead Stories, and FactCheck.org all debunked the claim. PolitiFact also previously debunked a similar iteration of the claim in 2018.