Trump Signs Narrow Orders Limiting Birthright Citizenship Categories

President Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday that narrow the groups eligible for automatic U.S. citizenship at birth and restrict entry for foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States. The actions follow a June 30 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a broader prior order as inconsistent with the 14th Amendment.

The first order excludes children born to non-citizen parents where at least one parent qualifies as an "alien enemy," a foreign government employee, or a person engaged in a commercial transaction to secure birthright citizenship. It also denies citizenship to births in U.S. territories or waters where federal statute does not confer it. The second order directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to deny visas and remove individuals attempting "birth tourism."

Trump described the prior ruling as "very, very unfortunate" and said the new measures address unfairness. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller stated the orders expand ineligible categories and ban birth tourism for the first time, noting that some visitors enter under false pretenses to obtain citizenship for their children. Government data recorded fewer than 10,000 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024; a Migration Policy Institute analysis estimated 22,000 to 26,000 annual cases of birth tourism.

Critics including ACLU deputy director Cody Wofsy and Senators Alex Padilla and Ruben Gallego argued the orders violate the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause, which states that all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens. The Supreme Court had ruled 6-3 in the earlier case. Legal challenges are expected, though the narrower definitions may raise distinct questions from the struck-down version.

The orders build on a 2020 State Department rule that already permitted denial of visas for suspected birth tourism. No official tally exists for organized operations, though Republican lawmakers have cited concerns involving Chinese nationals in the Northern Mariana Islands.