State Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) said he plans to introduce legislation next session that would restrict the issuance of Tennessee birth certificates based on a parent’s immigration status, arguing the proposal is a state-level response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.
Speaking Thursday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Bulso outlined his proposal following the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision in Trump v. Barbara, which held that children born in the U.S. to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens under the 14th Amendment.
Bulso said he disagrees with the Court’s ruling and instead endorsed Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent.
“I’ve read the opinion, particularly I’ve read Clarence Thomas’s 90-page dissent… which is just brilliant and actually should’ve been the opinion of the court, in my view,” Bulso said.
He argued the dissent better reflects the original purpose of the Citizenship Clause.”
“[Thomas] does a wonderful job of explaining how the citizenship clause, both in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and in the 14th Amendment, were designed to overturn an erroneous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott,” Bulso added.
Bulso went on to criticize the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.
“Unfortunately, Chief Justice Roberts and the others kind of went in a direction that I think the drafters and the voters who approved the 14th Amendment never would’ve gone,” he said.
Bulso said state lawmakers are now examining what authority Tennessee has following the Supreme Court’s decision, explaining how his proposal would mirror Tennessee’s existing policy prohibiting driver’s licenses for people unlawfully present in the U.S.
“We have passed laws that ban issuance of state driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, folks who are in the state unlawfully. I see no reason why we should not extend that same policy to birth certificates,” he argued.
Bulso acknowledged the Supreme Court currently recognizes birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ immigration status, but argued the state is not required to make obtaining official documents automatic.
“Although our Supreme Court right now says that anyone who’s born in the United States, even those here illegally, are automatically United States citizens, there’s no reason why we have to allow that process to be easier than it needs to be,” he added.
When asked whether his proposal would deny birth certificates to children born to foreign nationals who travel to Tennessee specifically to give birth, Bulso confirmed that was his intent.
“That’s how it would work. Yeah. We would effectively take Judge Thomas’s dissent and understand exactly who’s covered by the citizenship clause, and we would issue birth certificates in the state of Tennessee consistent with that opinion,” he explained.
Asked how state officials would determine eligibility, Bulso said the legislation would require documentation of lawful status.
“You’d have to present proof of lawful residence in the United States in order to obtain a birth certificate,” he said.
Bulso also acknowledged how “birth tourism” cases would require additional procedures.
“There would have to be some type of procedure put in place to ferret out those who were here… for a lawful purpose,” he noted, adding, “I think coming to the United States to have a child so that the child can be an American citizen is not going to be considered a lawful purpose in the state of Tennessee.”
Bulso, a longtime trial lawyer, said he expects any legislation would face immediate court challenges but argued the proposal would withstand constitutional scrutiny.
“My response would be, first, they’re going to have to point to some specific provision of the Tennessee Constitution or the U.S. Constitution that the law allegedly violates,” he said.
Addressing potential challenges under the 14th Amendment, he said, “We’d simply point out that it doesn’t violate the 14th Amendment because the 14th Amendment simply says that if you are a citizen, you are entitled to certain rights… and we are not in any way depriving any citizen of due process.”
Bulso also argued the state has authority over the issuance of official records.
“We can, as a General Assembly, set the policy for the state in terms of who is entitled to receive a birth certificate,” he stressed.
He said many Tennesseans would support the proposal.
“I think my constituents, and I think the vast majority of Tennesseans, would probably see some merit in having a system where we need to go ahead and make sure that our official documents, driver’s licenses, birth certificates, are issued to those who are here lawfully,” he said.
Bulso concluded that, in his view, “I don’t think anyone who is here illegally, frankly, has a right to demand from the county or from the state.”
— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) July 16, 2026
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
