On Thursday, August 6th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, following a Supreme Court ruling that blocked his earlier executive order seeking to limit automatic citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Trump described the Supreme Court decision as "very unfortunate" and stated, "We're making adjustments because it's very unfair. They're buying their way in, and we're not going to let it happen."

White House officials explained that the new directives rely on existing executive and immigration authorities to narrow eligibility for automatic citizenship in certain cases and to crack down on foreigners traveling to the United States specifically to give birth.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller detailed that the first order expands the categories of people considered ineligible for birthright citizenship. These include "alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments."

Miller also stated that the second order is "for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism." The administration will deny visas to individuals who seek to enter the U.S. "to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen," as well as to those who organize such trips.

White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf added that the orders target organized birth tourism operations through visa denials and law enforcement, emphasizing that the administration is relying on "legally validated means" that do not conflict with the Supreme Court's ruling.

These actions mark a new approach by the administration to address what it views as abuses of birthright citizenship.

Sources