Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

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

The new executive order narrows its scope, denying birthright citizenship to four specific 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 who commit or support 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, all children affected by this order are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara. The clause grants citizenship to all children "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which the Court clarified includes children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

No part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a point relevant to the interpretation of jurisdiction under the Citizenship Clause.

This latest executive order is considered unconstitutional by legal experts, continuing the contentious debate over the scope of birthright citizenship in the U.S.

Sources

• Ilya Somin, Reason, "Trump Issues Another Unconstitutional Executive Order Targeting Birthright Citizenship," August 7, 2026, reason.com