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 Supreme Court decision in Trump v. Barbara that invalidated an earlier, broader executive order denying citizenship to children born in the US to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

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

• Children of "alien enemies," defined as those with at least one non-citizen 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 US 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 affirmed 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 US law.

The new order affects a smaller group than the previous one but is still considered unconstitutional under current legal interpretations. No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a condition sometimes cited in arguments about exceptions to birthright citizenship.

Sources

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