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

The first executive order identifies specific groups whose children would not be eligible for citizenship at birth. These include children born to parents deemed "alien enemies" by the government, foreign government employees, or those who 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, as well as children of persons employed by international organizations with immunity and ambassadors. However, critics note that children of diplomats with full immunity already do not receive birthright citizenship because 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 this practice. The U.S. government already possesses visa denial powers and has prosecuted birth tourism schemes, including under the Biden administration.

Despite the White House's claim that these measures will "protect the meaning and value of American citizenship," experts argue the orders are largely symbolic and combine unconstitutional provisions with what has been described as "performance art." The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended citizenship to "every free-born person in this land," a principle upheld by the Supreme Court.

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

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