On Thursday, August 7th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders intended to narrowly restrict birthright citizenship in the United States. These orders come just over a month after the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in the case Trump v. Barbara, striking down a broader attempt by Trump to suppress it.

The first executive order identifies specific groups whose children would not be eligible for citizenship at birth. It excludes children born to parents deemed "alien enemies" by the government, "foreign government employees," or those who have "engaged in a commercial transaction" to secure 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 an international organization that possess international-organization immunity" and "ambassadors," though such children typically do not receive birthright citizenship due to diplomatic immunity.

The second order targets "birth tourism," a practice where some women travel to the U.S. solely to give birth on American soil. This order delegates presidential authority to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to halt birth tourism. However, the U.S. government already possesses the power to deny visas to applicants suspected of intending to give birth in the country and has prosecuted operators of birth tourism schemes, including during President Joe Biden's administration.

Despite the White House's claim that these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship," legal analysts argue the orders combine unconstitutional provisions with what they describe as "performance art," and thus will have limited practical effect. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended birthright citizenship to "every free-born person in this land," a promise reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.

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

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