Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order aimed at limiting 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, seeks to deny 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 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 who commit or support terrorism.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably American Samoa.

With the exception of children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, all children in these categories 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 subject to 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 jurisdiction under the Citizenship Clause.

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

Sources

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