Trump has renewed his push to limit birthright citizenship in the United States, signing two new executive orders aimed at expanding the categories of children who would not automatically qualify for citizenship and cracking down on so-called “birth tourism”.
The move comes weeks after the US Supreme Court rejected an earlier executive order that sought to end automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants and some temporary visa holders. The latest measures are also expected to face legal challenges.
Birthright citizenship has been a key part of Trump’s immigration agenda during his second term, although previous attempts to restrict it have been blocked by the courts.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump criticised the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling.
“It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision,” Trump told reporters. “So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”
One of the executive orders seeks to broaden the list of people whose children would not qualify for automatic US citizenship at birth.
Existing historical exceptions under the 14th Amendment include children born to foreign diplomats, foreign sovereigns, occupying military forces, those born on foreign ships, and, in certain historical circumstances, Indigenous Americans.
According to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the administration also wants to extend those exceptions to include children of members of foreign terrorist organisations and certain individuals who lobby or act on behalf of foreign governments, although it has not specified exactly who would be covered.
The order would also expand the exemption relating to foreign diplomats to include additional foreign government employees, while maintaining that people born in territories where citizenship is not granted under federal law, such as American Samoa, would remain ineligible.
It further proposes denying citizenship to children whose parents are found to have engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship.
The second executive order targets “birth tourism” by directing federal agencies to increase enforcement against businesses and individuals that organise travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth so a child acquires US citizenship.
Trump claimed, without providing evidence, that the practice involves “hundreds of thousands” of people each year.
“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump told reporters. “People are building businesses around it. 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.”
However, estimates from the Migration Policy Institute suggest the scale is significantly smaller.
The organisation says census-based estimates place the number of births linked to birth tourism at between 22,000 and 26,000 annually, while government data recorded around 9,600 births in 2024 to mothers with foreign addresses—representing less than one percent of all births in the United States that year.
Travelling to the US on a tourist visa while intending to give birth to secure citizenship for a child is already considered visa fraud under existing law, leading some legal experts to question how much practical effect the new order would have beyond current enforcement measures.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s earlier attempt to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who were in the country unlawfully or on temporary visas, reaffirming that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to almost everyone born on US soil.
The latest directives seek to test the scope of that ruling by arguing that additional categories of people fall outside the protections of the 14th Amendment, while also ordering federal agencies to step up efforts against birth tourism.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticised the new measures, arguing they represent another unconstitutional attempt to restrict birthright citizenship following the administration’s defeat before the Supreme Court.
“The supreme court already decided this issue: birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the constitution,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
“Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one.”
