Trump Issues New Executive Order Challenging Birthright Citizenship

On Friday, August 7th, 2026, former President Donald Trump issued a new executive order aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship in the United States. This order follows a June ruling by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara, which invalidated an earlier, broader executive order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The latest order restricts birthright citizenship for four categories of children:

• Children of "alien enemies," defined as those with at least one non-citizen parent designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189 or as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and Executive Order 13224 (September 23, 2001), which blocks property and prohibits transactions with persons involved in terrorism.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute, notably American Samoa.

With the exception of children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, all these children are currently entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The clause grants citizenship to all children "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara clarified that this includes children of all persons subject to U.S. law.

Reason's analysis notes that no part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, and that people living in U.S. territories like American Samoa are subject to U.S. law, with Congress holding plenary legislative power over them.

This new executive order affects a smaller group than the previous one but remains constitutionally contentious.

Sources

• Ilya Somin, Reason, Trump Issues Another Unconstitutional Executive Order Targeting Birthright Citizenship