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 that struck down an earlier, broader executive order denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The new order denies birthright citizenship to four specific categories of children:

• Children of "alien enemies," defined as those with at least one 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 and Executive Order 13224 (September 23, 2001).
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably including American Samoa.

Except for children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, these children are generally entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara clarified that citizenship applies to all children "born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," which includes children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

The order affects a much smaller group than the previous one invalidated by the Supreme Court but remains constitutionally questionable according to legal analysis.

Sources

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