Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has 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 that denied citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The new order, issued on August 7, 2026, denies birthright citizenship to four 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 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 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 American Samoa.

Except for children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, these children are 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.

No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a point relevant to the interpretation of the Citizenship Clause.

This 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, August 7, 2026.