By TRH World Desk
Trump signed two orders Thursday — one narrowing who qualifies for birthright citizenship (targeting groups like foreign terrorist organization members and certain diplomatic staff), the other directing State/DHS to crack down on commercial “birth tourism.” This comes after the Supreme Court struck down his broader Day 1 order in a 6-3 ruling in June. The White House is betting this narrower version survives court challenges by leaning on “legally validated” enforcement mechanisms rather than reinterpreting the 14th Amendment outright — though legal fights are expected either way.
New Delhi, August 7, 2026 — U.S. President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship and cracking down on “birth tourism,” marking his second attempt to reshape the policy after the Supreme Court struck down his original effort earlier this year.
The first order expands the categories of people the administration considers ineligible for automatic citizenship. According to CNN, it targets “alien enemies,” members of foreign terrorist organizations, and people who lobby or act on behalf of foreign governments, making children born to people in those groups ineligible for birthright citizenship.
The order also seeks to deny birthright citizenship for children of some foreign diplomatic staff, and potentially in U.S. territories in the future.
The second order is focused squarely on commercial birth tourism. It directs the secretaries of state and homeland security to issue rules and guidance to stop birth tourism and target the industry at home and abroad.
Fox News reported that Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, called it the first order issued “for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism.”
CBS News reported that U.S. law already restricts this practice, noting a visa cannot be obtained “for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.”
Miller argued the practice has let people “pretend to be tourists visiting attractions like Disneyland or national parks while their real purpose is to have a citizen child before leaving the country, which he said grants access to welfare benefits and eventually voting rights.
This is Trump’s second attempt to curb the policy. On his first day in office in January 2025, he signed a sweeping order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents. The Hill reported the Supreme Court struck it down in a 6-3 ruling, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three liberal justices, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh also voting against it on statutory grounds.
The ruling termed the original order “unlawful and out of step with the 14th Amendment.”
Trump addressed the setback directly from the Oval Office. The Hill quoted him saying: “We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright.” He added that his team is “making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”
Can Trump Legally Sidestep the Court’s Ruling?
CNN describes the new approach as notably narrower than last year’s attempt, one that appears to largely tighten laws already on the books and narrow recognized legal exceptions rather than rewrite the citizenship rule wholesale.
White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf defended the legal footing of the orders. The Hill quoted him saying the administration is “taking legally validated means clearly within our disposal and targeting them square on to this birth tourism industry,” and insisting there’s “absolutely nothing in here that runs afoul of any of the Supreme Court’s opinions on the subject.”
Asked whether the new orders would hold up in court, Fox News reported Trump’s blunt reply: “I think it will.”
Critics of the birth-tourism framing — including University of Virginia immigration law professor Amanda Frost — have argued the better remedy is enforcement of existing rules rather than new executive action.
FAQ
- Did the Supreme Court already block a Trump birthright citizenship order? — Yes, in June 2026.
- What is “birth tourism”? — Traveling to the U.S. specifically to give birth so a child gains automatic citizenship.
- Will the new executive orders be challenged in court? — Legal challenges are widely expected.
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