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 follows a June ruling by the Supreme Court that struck down an earlier, broader executive order by Trump which denied citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The new order narrows its scope, denying birthright citizenship to four specific categories of children:

• Those with at least one parent designated as part of a Foreign Terrorist Organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189 or labeled 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.

Except for children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, the order excludes groups that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects. This clause grants citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction. The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara clarified that this includes children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

Legal experts note that no part of the U.S. has been invaded or occupied since World War II, underscoring the constitutional protections for birthright citizenship. The new executive order is viewed as unconstitutional by critics, despite affecting a smaller group than the previous order.

Sources

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