Trump again tries to limit US birthright citizenship with new executive orders
The executive orders ban birth tourism and expand the existing definition of people whose children are not eligible for US birthright citizenship.
Donald Trump has renewed his efforts to curtail birthright citizenship in the United States, issuing new executive orders just weeks after the Supreme Court rejected his previous attempt to abolish the right.
On Thursday, the president signed two executive orders. One order broadens the existing definitions of non-citizens whose offspring are ineligible for birthright citizenship. The second order prohibits "birth tourism," a practice where pregnant mothers travel to the U.S. to give birth, thereby making their babies citizens.
"This should have happened years ago, but we're taking care of it now," Trump stated from the Oval Office, criticizing the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the 150-year-old policy.
The first executive order declares, "My Administration has guarded against the risks posed by malign foreign actors who attempt to swindle American citizens by taking advantage of the generosity of our Nation." This order specifically bars automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to two non-citizen parents if one parent is: a member of a foreign terrorist group, a foreign government employee, has attempted to gain citizenship fraudulently, or resides in U.S. territories where federal statute does not confer citizenship. Birthright citizenship for individuals born in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico is established by federal law.
Trump and his administration have frequently condemned birth tourism, even accusing Russian and Chinese adversaries of exploiting birthright citizenship to infiltrate the U.S. During the announcement of the executive orders, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of babies have been born in the U.S. through birth tourism.
However, the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, estimates that the most comprehensive census-based figures indicate approximately 22,000 to 26,000 babies are born in the U.S. annually due to birth tourism. Government data, according to the institute, showed 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024.
"The idea (is) that people come here pretending to be a tourist, pretending to be a visitor," said Stephen Miller, homeland security advisor and White House deputy chief of staff for policy, standing alongside the president on Thursday. "But the real reason they're here is to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen, (to) leave our country and then have a US citizen child," he explained, adding that these children then gain access to welfare benefits, the voting booth, and "all the other rights and privileges that belong solely to Americans."
Miller asserted that the president possesses the authority to ban birth tourism under a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which empowers the president to establish exceptions and limitations on who can enter the country.
In 2025, during one of his initial days back in office, Trump signed an executive order attempting to terminate birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A subsequent legal challenge led the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled in June that Trump's 2025 policies were invalid and birthright citizenship remained law. This decision was a significant setback for Trump's ongoing efforts to restrict who can reside, work, and become citizens in the U.S.
"A bad decision, very unfair decision," Trump remarked from the Oval Office on Thursday, referring to the high court's ruling. "Our country suffers because of it, and we're ending in a different way."