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

The first executive order identifies specific groups whose children would not be eligible for citizenship at birth. These groups include children whose parents have been designated as "alien enemies," are "foreign government employees," or have engaged in commercial transactions to obtain 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, despite existing diplomatic immunity rules that already exclude such children from birthright citizenship.

The second order addresses "birth tourism," a practice 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. However, the U.S. government already possesses the power to deny visas to applicants suspected of intending to give birth on U.S. soil and has prosecuted birth tourism schemes, including under the Biden administration.

The White House asserts that these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship." However, critics argue that the orders combine unconstitutional provisions with symbolic gestures and are 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.

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