Washington — On Thursday, August 7th, 2026, President Trump signed two new executive orders in an ongoing effort to limit birthright citizenship in the United States after the Supreme Court struck down his previous attempt earlier this year.

One order targets individuals involved in commercial "birth tourism," seeking to deny them entry into the country. The other order broadens the categories of individuals deemed ineligible for birthright citizenship, including children of foreign citizens who lobby on behalf of foreign governments.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described birth tourism as a long-standing issue, stating, "The idea that people come here pretending to be a tourist, pretending to be a visitor, saying they want to go to Disneyland or they want to go visit a monument or go to a national park, but the real reason they're here is to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen, leave our country, and then have a U.S. citizen child."

One of the orders specifies that children born to mothers who entered the U.S. through commercial transactions intended to ensure birthright citizenship should not be granted citizenship documents.

The Supreme Court's earlier decision was described by President Trump as "a very unfortunate decision... it was close," prompting the administration to make adjustments through these new orders.

However, Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, warned, "Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one."

During Supreme Court proceedings, Chief Justice John Roberts noted to U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer that birth tourism does not affect the legal analysis of the Citizenship Clause. Sauer commented on the issue's scale, saying, "We're in a new world now … where 8 billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who is a U.S. citizen."

The administration argues that the current system grants access to welfare benefits, voting rights, and other privileges "that belong solely to Americans," which they seek to restrict through these executive orders.

Sources