The Trump administration has already facilitated such neonatal arrests by repealing a 2011 rule that prohibited ICE enforcement in and around hospitals. Combined with this new guidance—plus a vast expansion of its budget—Immigration and Customs Enforcement could send agents to demand proof of legal status from postpartum mothers and fathers. If they failed to produce the necessary paperwork, ICE could arrest the entire family, including the baby, whom agents could attempt to separate from her parents.

The Trump administration has quietly reintroduced a new form of family separation policies and rolled back protections for minors. An American-born child with previously guaranteed citizenship under the 14th Amendment would be treated no differently than a noncitizen apprehended at the border.