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 ruling by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara, which invalidated an earlier, broader executive order denying birthright citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and those born to non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The latest order restricts birthright citizenship for 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 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 involved in terrorism.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably American Samoa, the only populated U.S. territory whose residents have not been granted citizenship by Congress.

Except for children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, all these children are currently 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 those born to parents required to obey U.S. law.

The new executive order affects a smaller group than the previous one but remains constitutionally questionable. No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a factor relevant to the interpretation of jurisdiction under the Citizenship Clause.

Sources

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