Trump Issues New Executive Order Restricting Birthright Citizenship

Former President Donald Trump has issued a new executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship in the United States. This latest order follows a June Supreme Court decision in Trump v. Barbara that struck down a 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 narrows the scope but remains unconstitutional according to legal analysis. It 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 (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.
• Children of foreign-government employees with diplomatic immunity are exempted.

Legal experts note that, except for the diplomatic immunity exception, these children are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 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 clarified that this includes children of all persons subject to U.S. law.

The order affects a smaller group than the previous one but continues the effort to restrict citizenship rights through executive action.

Sources

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