Trump Signs New Executive Orders Targeting Birthright Citizenship & Birth Tourism

 

US President Donald Trump has signed two new executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship and tackling so-called "birth tourism", just weeks after the US Supreme Court ruled that his previous attempt to limit the long-standing constitutional right was unlawful.The orders, signed on Thursday, 6 August, mark the latest effort by the Trump administration to tighten immigration policy following the court's decision in June, which reaffirmed that birthright citizenship remains protected under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

One of the executive orders broadens the categories of non-citizens whose children would not automatically qualify for US citizenship at birth. Under the new policy, automatic citizenship would be denied to babies born in the United States to two non-citizen parents if one parent is a member of a foreign terrorist organisation, a foreign government employee, has attempted to obtain US citizenship through fraud, or is living in a US territory where citizenship is not granted under federal law.

The second order targets "birth tourism" – the practice of travelling to the United States while pregnant to give birth so that a child acquires US citizenship. Trump said the move was long overdue.

"This should have happened years ago, but we're taking care of it now," the president said from the Oval Office, where he also criticised the Supreme Court for rejecting his earlier attempt to end the 150-year-old policy.

In the first executive order, the administration said it was acting to protect the country from "malign foreign actors" who exploit US immigration laws.

Trump and senior members of his administration have frequently argued that birth tourism is being used by foreign nationals, including those from Russia and China, to take advantage of US citizenship laws.

Speaking alongside the president, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller said individuals often enter the United States claiming to be tourists when their true intention is to give birth, allowing their child to become an American citizen.

Miller argued that the president has the legal authority to prohibit birth tourism under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the executive branch to place certain restrictions on entry into the United States.

During the announcement, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of babies had been born in the United States through birth tourism. However, the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute estimates that between 22,000 and 26,000 babies are born each year as a result of the practice. Government figures cited by the institute recorded around 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024.

The executive orders follow a legal defeat for the administration earlier this year. In 2025, Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, but the policy was challenged in court and ultimately struck down by the Supreme Court in June.

Describing the ruling as "a bad decision" and "very unfair", Trump said his administration would pursue alternative measures to achieve its immigration objectives.