Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

On Friday, August 7th, 2026, former President Donald Trump issued a new executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship in the United States. This follows a June Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. Barbara that invalidated 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 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 part of 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 supporting terrorism.
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably American Samoa.

Aside from children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, the order excludes groups that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has historically protected. The clause grants citizenship to all children "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara affirmed that this includes children of all persons subject to U.S. law.

Experts note that no part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a condition sometimes cited in exceptions to birthright citizenship. The new order affects a much smaller group than the previous one but remains constitutionally contentious.

Sources

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