Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

On Friday, August 7th, 2026, former President Donald Trump issued a new executive order aiming to restrict birthright citizenship in the United States. This order follows a June Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Barbara that struck down an earlier, broader executive order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

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

• 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 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 supporting terrorism.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably American Samoa.

Except for children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, these groups are generally 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," including children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

Legal experts consider the new executive order unconstitutional, similar to the previous one, despite its narrower scope. The order affects a smaller population but continues to challenge established interpretations of citizenship rights.

Sources

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