Trump Signs Two Executive Orders to Narrow Birthright Citizenship

Today’s Focus

President Donald Trump signed two immigration executive orders on Thursday from the Oval Office, according to the Associated Press and the BBC.

Both target birthright citizenship, the principle that nearly anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen. The move comes roughly two months after the Supreme Court declined to back his earlier effort to end the practice.

The first order broadens the categories of noncitizen parents whose U.S.-born children would not receive automatic citizenship, the BBC reported. It applies when a child is born to two noncitizen parents and one of them belongs to a designated foreign terrorist group, works for a foreign government, sought citizenship through fraud, or lives in a U.S. territory where citizenship comes only through federal law.

The order states the administration is guarding against “malign foreign actors” who exploit the country’s generosity, per the BBC.

The second order goes after birth tourism, in which pregnant women travel to the United States so their children gain citizenship at birth. It tightens visa rules for visitors seeking to give birth in the country, according to the AP.

“This should have happened years ago, but we’re taking care of it now,” Trump said, criticizing the June ruling, per the BBC.

In that decision, the Supreme Court affirmed a broad reading of the 150-year-old right and rejected Trump’s January 2025 order, the AP reported. Trump said he believes the new actions will hold up in court, though NPR noted his team offered few specifics.

The Debate

Supporters argue

Trump and his allies frame the orders as a needed response to abuse of a policy they say invites fraud and national-security risks. The president argued the move is overdue, telling reporters his administration is “taking care of it now,” per the BBC.

Administration officials have long pointed to birth tourism as a loophole, and the first order cites the danger of “malign foreign actors” exploiting automatic citizenship, according to the BBC. Trump and members of his team have accused Russian and Chinese adversaries of using the practice to gain a foothold in the country.

Supporters contend the orders are narrowly drawn this time, focusing on children of two noncitizen parents tied to terrorism, foreign governments, or fraud rather than an outright end to the right. Trump said he expects the new approach to survive legal challenges, per NPR. Backers argue the executive branch has authority to interpret who falls under the citizenship clause, and that closing the birth-tourism visa channel is a routine exercise of immigration enforcement.

Critics argue

Opponents say the orders defy the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union stated the new actions are “doomed to fail in court,” as reported by The Guardian.

Critics point to the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to those born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction. They argue a president cannot rewrite that guarantee by executive order, especially so soon after the justices rebuffed the first attempt in June, per the AP.

Immigrant-rights advocates warn the orders sow fear and confusion for families and could leave some U.S.-born children stateless or in legal limbo. They note the first order reaches children whose parents work for foreign governments, a category that could sweep in diplomats’ families and others with lawful status. Legal challengers who sued over the January 2025 order have signaled they will return to court, according to the AP, arguing the administration is relitigating a question the judiciary has already resolved.

What the experts say

Legal scholars generally trace birthright citizenship to the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, and to the 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that a child born in the country to noncitizen parents is a citizen.

The Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan research arm of Congress, has noted that most constitutional scholars read the citizenship clause to cover nearly all children born on U.S. soil, with narrow exceptions such as children of accredited diplomats.

Pew Research Center has estimated that about 250,000 babies were born to unauthorized-immigrant parents in the United States in a single recent year, a figure often cited in the policy debate. Precise data on birth tourism is limited, and researchers caution that reliable counts are hard to produce.

The June Supreme Court ruling described by the AP upheld a broad conception of the right, which historians note has stood for roughly 150 years. Scholars say any executive order narrowing it faces a steep path given that existing precedent.

By the Numbers

2: number of executive orders Trump signed Thursday targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, per the AP.

150 years: approximate age of the birthright citizenship policy Trump criticized, according to the BBC.

June 2026: month the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s first attempt to end birthright citizenship, per the AP.

January 2025: when Trump signed his initial birthright-citizenship order on his first day of his second term, according to the AP.

1868: year the 14th Amendment, the basis for birthright citizenship, was ratified, per the Congressional Research Service.

1898: year the Supreme Court decided United States v. Wong Kim Ark, affirming citizenship for U.S.-born children of noncitizens.

~250,000: estimated annual births to unauthorized-immigrant parents in the U.S. in a recent year, per Pew Research Center.