Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

On Friday, August 7th, 2026, former President Donald Trump issued a new executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship in the United States. This order follows a previous, broader executive order that was struck down by the Supreme Court in the case Trump v. Barbara earlier this year.

The new order denies birthright citizenship to four categories of children born in the U.S.:

• 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 and Executive Order 13224.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute, notably American Samoa.
• Children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity (excluded from the restriction).

According to the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, all children born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are entitled to citizenship. The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara confirmed that this includes children of undocumented immigrants and those on temporary visas, as they are subject to U.S. law.

Legal experts note that, aside from the diplomatic immunity exception, the groups targeted by the new order are generally entitled to birthright citizenship under current constitutional interpretation. The order is considered unconstitutional by critics, though it affects a smaller group than the previous order.

No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a fact relevant to the interpretation of "alien enemies" in the order.

Sources

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