President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Wednesday targeting birthright citizenship, working around a Supreme Court ruling that blocked his earlier attempt to redefine who qualifies for automatic citizenship under the Constitution.
The orders come about 1 month ago after the high court's June 30 decision struck down Trump's initial executive action. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that the Fourteenth Amendment's promise extends to "every free-born person in this land." Trump called that ruling "very unfortunate" and said his administration is "making adjustments."
Narrowing Citizenship Eligibility
The first executive order declares certain categories of individuals ineligible for birthright citizenship, according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Those excluded include "alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations and large categories of people who lobby an act on behalf of foreign governments," Miller told reporters in the Oval Office. The full language of the executive orders hadn't been released as of publication time.
This approach differs from Trump's previous effort, which sought to deny citizenship to all children born in the United States unless at least one parent had legal status. That sweeping change prompted the Supreme Court to intervene, with Roberts writing that "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights − to freely participate in our political community."
Cracking Down on Birth Tourism
The second order targets what Miller described as "birth tourism," seeking to deny visas to individuals engaged in the practice. The administration plans additional actions to curb pregnant foreign nationals from entering the country specifically to give birth on U.S. soil, though Miller didn't provide details on those measures.
Birth tourism has long concerned immigration hawks who view it as exploiting constitutional protections. The practice involves foreign nationals, often from wealthy families abroad, traveling to the United States to ensure their children receive American citizenship.
Part of Broader Immigration Agenda
Trump's renewed focus on birthright citizenship fits within his administration's hardline immigration agenda centered around mass deportations. He campaigned on overturning the constitutional provision and attended Supreme Court oral arguments in the case himself. When the court blocked his move to redefine citizenship, Trump publicly criticized the decision.
The Fourteenth Amendment states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The Framers adopted this language after the Civil War to ensure citizenship for formerly enslaved people and their descendants.
Why This Matters:
These executive orders represent Trump's determination to restrict citizenship access despite constitutional constraints and judicial pushback. The Supreme Court's recent ruling affirmed a 150-year interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, yet the administration continues seeking workarounds through narrower categories of exclusion. Whether courts will accept distinctions based on parental status as "alien enemies" or foreign agents remains uncertain. The birth tourism crackdown addresses legitimate concerns about visa fraud, but the broader citizenship restrictions test the limits of executive authority over constitutional rights. How federal courts respond will determine whether presidents can incrementally reshape citizenship through administrative action after losing on sweeping constitutional challenges.