Immigrants in US military face new citizenship rule for kids

The Trump administration has unveiled new rules that will make it harder for children of some immigrants serving in the military to obtain citizenship.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released updated guidance Wednesday that appears to mostly affect non-citizen service members.

Department of Defense spokeswoman Lt. Col. Carla M. Gleason said in a statement that the department worked closely with USCIS and "understands the estimated impact of this particular change is small."

Agency acting director Ken Cuccinelli played down the changes in a Twitter statement, saying the update doesn't deny citizenship to children of government workers and military members.

He also said it doesn't affect most military members who are American citizens but does make it harder for those who are legal permanent residents.