On Thursday, August 7th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at narrowly restricting birthright citizenship in the United States. These orders follow a recent Supreme Court decision in Trump v. Barbara, which upheld birthright citizenship, striking down a broader attempt by Trump to limit it.

The first executive order outlines specific categories of parents whose children would not be eligible for citizenship at birth. These include parents deemed "alien enemies" by the government, foreign government employees, and individuals who have engaged in commercial transactions to obtain birthright citizenship for their child. It also excludes children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not granted by federal statute. The order further mentions children of persons employed by international organizations with immunity and ambassadors, although children of diplomats with full immunity already do not receive birthright citizenship as they are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

The second order addresses "birth tourism," where some women travel to the U.S. solely to give birth and secure citizenship for their child. This order delegates authority to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to halt birth tourism practices. The U.S. government already has visa denial powers and has prosecuted birth tourism schemes, including under the Biden administration.

The White House claims these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship." However, critics argue the orders are mostly symbolic and unlikely to have significant legal effect, describing them as combining unconstitutional provisions with performance art.

The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended citizenship to "every free-born person in this land," a principle reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in recent rulings.

(Photo credits: Denis Shevchuk/Elnur/Dreamstime; Illustration: Fatima Ruiz, Midjourney)

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