By Rajwa Quasim
President Donald Trump signed two new executive orders on Thursday aimed at changing who can acquire U.S. citizenship. The move comes after the Supreme Court previously blocked similar efforts.
One of the orders seeks to narrow eligibility for birthright citizenship, while the second directs the secretary of state and secretary of homeland security to curb commercial “birth tourism,” in which pregnant women travel to the U.S. to give birth and obtain U.S. citizenship for their children.
According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on July 9, 1868, the United States grants citizenship to people born in the country, as well as to those who become naturalized citizens. The amendment also extended citizenship to formerly enslaved people.
Trump now argues that the provision has been misused and that the amendment was adopted primarily in response to the aftermath of the Civil War. “This was done right after the Civil War. This was for the babies of slaves, and what’s happening now? People are building businesses around it,” Trump said. Chief Justice Hohn Roberts responded to Trump, saying there is “scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view.”
READ: Supreme Court birthright citizenship ruling leaves Trump administration exploring legal avenues (August 4, 2026)
“The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person’ in this land. We keep that promise today,” Roberts added.
The Trump administration’s new order narrows this eligibility, exempting children born to foreign diplomats, children of members of alleged terrorist groups, and children born in U.S. territories where citizenship is not granted under federal law from obtaining birthright citizenship. It also excludes children whose parents paid for a commercial arrangement in which the mother traveled to the U.S. to give birth or to one of its territories.
On the first day of Trump’s second term, he signed an executive order seeking to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, accusing people of misusing the law. The Supreme Court later cited Trump’s effort to narrow birthright citizenship eligibility as unlawful and unconstitutional. Trump described the move as a “very unfortunate decision” by the Supreme Court. He said, “They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it.”
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, defended the decision, saying, “It gives them access, under this broken system, to welfare benefits, ultimately to the voting booth, and all the other rights and privileges that belong solely to Americans,” Miller said.
READ: ‘No wannabe king will take that away’: Democrats cheer Supreme Court birthright citizenship ruling (July 2, 2026)
Among the groups that condemned the newly signed order was the American Civil Liberties Union. The organization said in a statement, “The Supreme Court already decided on this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. Any executive order that tries to attack birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as President Trump’s last one.”
As per a White House statement, Trump administration has deported over three million illegal aliens, including thousands convicted for violent crimes. They also strengthened visa programs, their screenings and paused visa processing for what they call as “75 high-risk countries.”
According to a report by Migration Policy Institute, about 22,000-26,000 babies are born annually in the U.S. through birth tourism, although government data recorded about 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024.