On Thursday, August 6th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism in the United States. The move follows a "very unfortunate" Supreme Court ruling that blocked Trump's earlier executive order attempting to limit automatic citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Trump stated, "We're making adjustments because it's very unfair," criticizing what he described as businesses built around birthright citizenship. "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 U.S. specifically to give birth.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said the first order expands categories of individuals deemed ineligible for birthright citizenship, including "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 described the second order as "for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism." The administration plans to deny visas to those seeking to enter the country "to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen," as well as to those organizing 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 using "legally validated means" that do not conflict with the Supreme Court's ruling.

The executive orders represent a new approach by the Trump administration after the Supreme Court's rejection of the previous attempt to limit birthright citizenship.

Sources