Donald Trump signs new orders to restrict US birthright citizenship
Washington, 7 August 2026
Following a Supreme Court defeat, President Trump’s new executive orders bypass the ruling by targeting “birth tourism” and fraud to restrict automatic US citizenship for some foreign parents’ children.
The New Legal Strategy
On Thursday, 6 August 2026, United States President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders designed to restrict birthright citizenship [1][2]. This represents a tactical shift following a major legal setback on 30 June 2026, when the US Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Trump v. Barbara that his previous, broader attempt to end birthright citizenship via executive action was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment [3][4]. Describing that judicial defeat as a “very unfair decision,” Trump has pivoted to a narrower, targeted approach using executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act [2][4][5].
Targeted Categories and Technical Parameters
The newly signed orders focus on specific categories of future births to restrict automatic citizenship [2]. These include children born to non-citizen parents where at least one parent is classified as an “alien enemy”—such as members of foreign terrorist organisations or Specially Designated Global Terrorists—and children of foreign government employees, including embassy staff and international organisation workers with diplomatic immunity [3][4]. Additionally, the restrictions target children born in US territories or territorial waters where federal statute does not explicitly confer citizenship, currently affecting American Samoa [1][3].
Dismantling the ‘Birth Tourism’ Industry
The second major component of the executive actions directly targets “birth tourism”—the practice of travelling to the US specifically to give birth so the child receives automatic citizenship [1][4]. Under the executive order effective 5 August 2026, the administration prohibits federal agencies from issuing or recognising citizenship documents for children whose parents used commercial transactions, including commercial surrogacy arrangements or deceptive travel practices, to secure birthright citizenship [3]. The Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security have been instructed to issue new regulations and guidance to suppress these operations both domestically and internationally [2].
Statistical Realities and Economic Context
While President Trump has claimed that “hundreds of thousands” of babies are born via birth tourism annually, official data and independent research suggest a much smaller scale [2][5]. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that birth tourism accounts for approximately 22,000 to 26,000 births per year, which represents roughly 0.743 per cent of the estimated 3,500,000 total annual births in the United States [4]. Furthermore, official government records from 2024 identified only 9,600 births to mothers listing foreign addresses, making up less than 1% of total US births [1][5].
Legal Authority and Impending Challenges
The Trump administration’s legal defence of these orders relies on the premise that the executive branch has the authority to revoke or deny citizenship obtained through fraudulent misrepresentation [2]. White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, argued that individuals entering the country under the guise of being temporary tourists while intending to give birth are committing visa fraud [4][5]. Because the government already possesses the legal authority to revoke naturalised citizenship obtained via fraud, the administration argues this logic can be applied to deny birthright citizenship to children of parents who entered deceptively [2].
Immediate Constitutional Pushback
Opponents of the policy argue that the executive orders represent an unconstitutional circumvention of the Supreme Court’s June 2026 decision [1][4]. On 6 August 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced its intention to legally challenge the orders [1]. Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, stated that no executive order can rewrite the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, predicting that this second attempt will meet the same fate in court as the administration’s previous efforts [1][4].