Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

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

The new order targets four specific categories of children, denying them birthright citizenship:

• 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 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.) and Executive Order 13224 (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 granted by federal statute, notably including 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 Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara clarified that the clause grants citizenship to all children "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which includes children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

The order affects a smaller group than the previous one but remains constitutionally contested. No part of the U.S. has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a condition sometimes cited in arguments about jurisdiction exceptions.

Sources

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