Kentucky moved closer to following the lead of several other states when a Senate committee approved a proposed constitutional amendment that would prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting.

While Kentucky’s constitution says U.S.-citizens are eligible to vote, municipalities in other states, like New York City, have ruled noncitizens can vote because there is no law against non-citizen voting.

Kentucky’s bill, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would amend two sections of the state constitution related to voting. It now heads to the full Senate.

Republican White House hopeful Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina on Friday questioned the legality of campaign promises made by former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully.

Calls to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants are gaining steam among the 2024 Republican presidential primary field, with now at least three hopefuls backing the controversial move.

Vivek Ramaswamy said this week that he supports ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.

Presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) questioned promises by primary rivals to end birthright citizenship, saying it may not be constitutional.

Both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) have pledged to end the practice.

“I think the Congress would have to act. The president cannot do that by himself or herself outright,” Scott said in a CBS interview Friday.

Scott said his opponents may be making promises they legally are not able to keep.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would end “unqualified” birthright citizenship for children whose parents are not themselves U.S. citizens.

The legislation, titled the “End Birthright Citizenship Fraud Act of 2023,” would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act “to reflect the original intent of the 14th Amendment’s ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ clause,” according to a statement on the measure. 

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”  

Nearly a million immigrant adults were naturalized as American citizens in fiscal year 2022, the third-highest annual tally recorded in U.S. history, according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) report obtained by CBS News.

As Russian missiles struck a key Ukrainian city, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded a fast-track procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship to all Ukrainians on Monday, another effort to strengthen Moscow’s influence over war-torn Ukraine.

Until recently, only residents of Ukraine’s separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, large parts of which are now under Russian control, were eligible to apply for the simplified passport procedure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree expanding a fast track to Russian citizenship to all citizens of Ukraine, a document published on the government’s website showed.

Until recently, only residents of the self-proclaimed breakaway territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in eastern Ukraine, which Russia seeks to “liberate” from Kyiv’s control, as well as the Russian-occupied regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia, were eligible for the simplified procedure.

Ukrainian officials were silent as Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded a fast-track citizenship path on Monday to Residents in Ukraine, according to the Associated Press.

The move to expand citizenship roles comes after a pivot in Russian strategy to settle for a war of attrition, according to the Wall Street Journal. Previously, the fast-track path was only available for residents in Russian-controlled territories of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions and southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the AP reported.

A renewed effort to enfranchise immigrants swims against American public opinion on the issue. But some cities see the right to vote as a way to strengthen community commitment of residents – citizens or not.