Trump signs new executive orders targeting birthright citizenship after Supreme Court loss

U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday in the Oval Office, narrowing his effort to limit birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier attempt.

The new measures target birth tourism, in which pregnant foreign nationals travel to the United States specifically to give birth, according to Reuters.

Do babies born in America automatically get citizenship?

Under the 14th Amendment, nearly everyone born in the United States has automatically received citizenship, with narrow exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats.

Trump's new orders reinterpret those exceptions, expanding who counts as ineligible, including children born through birth tourism, to foreign government employees or to people classified as alien enemies.

What do Trump's new executive orders do?

The administration says the new directives differ from the order the Supreme Court rejected because they reinterpret the limited historical exceptions to birthright citizenship and expand who can be considered ineligible. The orders restrict citizenship rights for children born to foreign government employees in the United States, as well as children of people classified as alien enemies.

They could also affect people born in U.S. territories if Congress approves separate legislation ending automatic citizenship there. Trump's earlier order, issued on his first day in office in 2025, directed federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children born in the United States if neither parent was a citizen or lawful permanent resident, targeting children of immigrants who were in the country illegally or temporarily.

Why is Trump targeting birth tourism?

At the signing ceremony, White House aide Stephen Miller said, "That practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned." Birth tourism refers to pregnant foreign nationals travelling to the United States so their children gain citizenship. The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that supports lower immigration levels, estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 mothers travelled to the United States for birth tourism during a one-year period between 2016 and 2017. The United States recorded 3.6 million births in 2025, though no official figures exist on how many foreign nationals travel to the country specifically to give birth or what it costs the public.

What did the Supreme Court rule in June?

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 30 that Trump's earlier executive order on birthright citizenship was unconstitutional. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the authors of the 14th Amendment extended citizenship protections to every free-born person in the United States. "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community. We keep that promise today," Roberts wrote. The Citizenship Clause states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

How did Trump react to the Supreme Court ruling?

Trump called the ruling "a very unfortunate decision" and argued that people were "building businesses around" birth tourism. "That's not the way it's supposed to work. It's a disgrace. They're buying their way in, and we're not going to let it happen," he said. He also argued the 14th Amendment was adopted after the Civil War for a different purpose. "This was done for the babies of slaves, and what's happening now?" he said.

How are critics responding to the new orders?

The measures are expected to face legal challenges, and legal experts say it remains unclear what practical effect they could have after the Supreme Court's ruling. Immigrant rights advocates argue the administration is trying to sidestep the court's decision. The American Civil Liberties Union said the orders are unlikely to survive judicial review. Deborah Fleischaker, a former Biden administration official now with UnidosUS, said, "Just five weeks ago, the Supreme Court made clear that birthright citizenship is not subject to a president's whims, it is a constitutional guarantee that has stood for more than 150 years.

Today's executive orders are nothing more than an attempt to get around that ruling." Zain Lakhani of the Women's Refugee Commission said the orders could undermine the rights of pregnant women seeking lawful entry to the United States and urged the government to issue guidelines consistent with the Supreme Court's decision.