Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship in the United States. This follows a June Supreme Court ruling against his earlier order, Trump v. Barbara, which denied citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and non-citizen parents on temporary visas.

The latest order excludes birthright citizenship for four categories of children:

• Those with at least one parent designated as part of a Foreign Terrorist Organization under 8 U.S.C. 1189 or as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, consistent with the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Executive Order 13224 (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, these groups are generally entitled to citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The 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.

No part of the U.S. has been invaded or occupied since World War II, a context relevant to the order's exclusions.

This new executive order affects a smaller group than the previous one but remains constitutionally contested.

Sources

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