Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting 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 that invalidated an earlier executive order denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The latest order denies birthright citizenship to four specific categories of children:

• Children of "alien enemies," defined as those with at least one parent designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189 or a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, consistent with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Executive Order 13224 (Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism).
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute, notably including American Samoa.

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

The new order affects a narrower group than the previous one but remains constitutionally questionable. No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a factor relevant to the legal interpretations involved.

Sources

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