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 order follows a previous, broader executive order that the Supreme Court invalidated in June 2026 in the case Trump v. Barbara, which had sought to deny 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 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).
• Children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, notably American Samoa.

With the exception of children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity, these groups are generally entitled to 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," which includes children of all persons required to obey U.S. law.

Legal experts note that no part of the United States has been invaded or occupied since World War II, which is relevant to the interpretation of the Citizenship Clause. The new executive order has been described as unconstitutional, similar to the previous order, though it affects a narrower group.

Sources

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