On Thursday, August 7th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders aimed at narrowly restricting 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.

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," "foreign government employees," or those who have "engaged in a commercial transaction" 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 the fact that children of diplomats with full immunity already do not receive birthright citizenship because they are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States.

The second order addresses "birth tourism," where some women travel to the U.S. solely to give birth on American soil. It delegates presidential authority to the Secretary of State and Secretary of Homeland Security to halt this practice. 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 birth tourism schemes, including under the Biden administration.

The White House claims these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship." Nonetheless, critics argue the orders are largely symbolic, combining unconstitutional provisions with what has been described as "performance art," and are unlikely to have significant legal impact.

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

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

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