Trump again tries to limit US birthright citizenship with new executive orders

Trump signed the orders weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his previous effort to eliminate birthright citizenship. The first order expands the definition of non-citizens whose children are ineligible for automatic citizenship: it denies citizenship to babies born in the US to two non-citizen parents if one parent is a foreign terrorist group member, a foreign government employee, has attempted citizenship through fraud, or is present in US territories where citizenship isn't conferred by statute. The second order bans birth tourism, which Trump says has produced 'hundreds of thousands' of such births.

Criticizing the Court's rejection, Trump said, 'This should have happened years ago.' The orders also claim to guard against 'malign foreign actors' exploiting birthright citizenship. According to the Migration Policy Institute, census-based estimates put birth tourism at 22,000–26,000 babies annually, while 2024 government data recorded 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses. Homeland security advisor Stephen Miller defended the move, arguing that birth tourists come to have US-citizen children who then access welfare, voting, and other rights. Miller cited a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act giving the president authority to set exceptions and limitations on entry.

The new orders are likely to face the same legal challenges that blocked the earlier attempt in early 2025.