Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would ask the US supreme court to reconsider its ruling that the 14th amendment to the US constitution guarantees birthright citizenship in light of what he described as shocking new evidence: a hospital in Texas advertising its services to expectant mothers in Mexico on a pair of billboards.
“Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with ‘Deliveries starting at $4000’, the president wrote on his social media platform, in what appeared to be a wild exaggeration of a Fox News report on just two billboards.
The president went on to claim that the justices “will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision”.
The high court last month rejected Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, ruling that his directive violated language in the US constitution’s 14th amendment that confers citizenship to those born in the United States who are “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”.
The US supreme court rarely grants requests to rehear cases and has not done so after issuing a ruling in an argued case in decades.
Fox News confirmed this week that a single hospital in Mission, Texas, five miles from the border with Reynosa, Mexico, had advertised “delivery packages” in south Texas on two Spanish-language billboards in Mexico, and on social media.
The Fox News report was based on a photograph of one billboard posted on social media in April by Mayra Flores, a Trump-backed former Republican congresswoman from Texas who was born in Mexico and is running to return to Congress.
The image has been recirculated recently on social media, as Trump supporters have called for a total and complete shutdown of pregnant women being allowed to enter the United States after the president’s attempt to deny birthright citizenship to children born to non-citizens in the US was rejected by the supreme court last month.
Flores, who said she took the photograph in Reynosa, did not initially claim that the billboard was inviting Mexicans to give birth in the US to obtained US citizenship for their children. She expressed outrage, instead, at the idea that the price of the birthing services – $3,950 for a natural birth or $5,525 for a caesarean section – was far lower than the typical cost for American citizens. She offered no proof for her claim that the prices were available only to foreign citizens at the hospital.
The Texas hospital, Mission Regional Medical Center, told the Guardian that the billboards and a website directed people to, havemybabyinTEXAS.com, “are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding”.
“Mission Regional Medical Center, a public nonprofit hospital, is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare and expanding access for the communities we serve,” the hospital said in a statement.
“Like hospitals across the nation, we share information about the healthcare services we provide. 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 regarding maternity services are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding. We intend to work cooperatively and transparently with local and state officials. Our focus remains on delivering safe, high-quality care to every patient who seeks our services.”
While the prospect of US citizenship was not mentioned in the text of the hospital’s billboard advertisement, or on an archived copy of the associated website that is no longer online, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, ordered an investigation of the hospital on Tuesday, accusing it of promoting “birth tourism”.
After the backlash this week from furious Trump supporters, the hospital also deleted an Instagram post in Spanish promoting their birthing services, even though it was crafted as an invitation to women “living abroad” who want to give birth in the US, with no mention of citizenship at all.
“Are you pregnant, living abroad, and looking to welcome your baby in South Texas?” the Instagram post read, according to a screenshot published by the Houston Chronicle. “Look no further! Come and learn about the maternity packages Mission Regional Medical Center has for you and discover why thousands of families choose to have their baby with us every year.”
Trump, who has repeatedly tested the limits of presidential power in domestic and foreign policy, issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship last year on his first day back in office, as part of a suite of policies to crack down on legal and illegal immigration.
Reuters contributed reporting
