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 limit the policy.

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 obtain birthright citizenship. It also excludes children born in U.S. territories where citizenship is not granted by federal statute, as well as children of persons employed by international organizations with immunity and ambassadors—though the latter are already excluded under existing law due to diplomatic immunity.

The second order addresses "birth tourism," where some women travel to the U.S. specifically 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. However, the U.S. government already has visa denial powers and has prosecuted birth tourism schemes, including during the Biden administration.

Despite White House claims that these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship," critics argue the orders are mostly symbolic and combine unconstitutional provisions with performance art, unlikely to have significant legal effect. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended birthright citizenship to "every free-born person in this land," a principle reaffirmed by the Supreme Court.

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

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