U.S. President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship in the United States, weeks after the Supreme Court rejected his previous attempt to end the longstanding policy.
Trump signed the orders on Thursday, Aug. 6, including one that expands the categories of non-citizens whose children would not automatically qualify for U.S. citizenship by birth.
The second order targets so-called birth tourism, a practice in which pregnant foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth, thereby securing U.S. citizenship for their children.
“This should have happened years ago, but we’re taking care of it now,” Trump said from the Oval Office, while criticising the Supreme Court’s rejection of his earlier attempt to change birthright citizenship rules.
The first executive order states that the administration is seeking to protect U.S. citizens from what it described as exploitation of the country’s citizenship laws by foreign actors.
Under the order, babies born in the United States to two non-citizen parents would not automatically receive citizenship where one of the parents is a member of a foreign terrorist organisation, an employee of a foreign government, has attempted to obtain U.S. citizenship through fraudulent means, or is living in U.S. territories where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute.
Trump and senior members of his administration have repeatedly criticised birth tourism, alleging that foreign nationals, including citizens of Russia and China, exploit the U.S. birthright citizenship system.
While announcing the orders, Trump claimed that hundreds of thousands of babies had been born in the United States through birth tourism.
However, the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organisation, estimates that between 22,000 and 26,000 babies are born in the United States annually through birth tourism.
Government data cited by the institute showed that 9,600 births were recorded in 2024 to mothers whose addresses were outside the United States.
Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser, defended the administration’s position on birth tourism.
He said some foreigners entered the United States claiming to be tourists or visitors when their actual intention was to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.
Miller argued that the resulting citizenship gave those children access to rights and benefits available to U.S. citizens.
He also maintained that the President had authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to restrict birth tourism by limiting or establishing exceptions to the entry of certain foreign nationals.
Trump had previously signed an executive order in 2025 seeking to end birthright citizenship as traditionally guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The policy triggered a legal challenge that eventually reached the Supreme Court.
In June, the Supreme Court ruled against the administration’s 2025 policy, leaving birthright citizenship in place.
Trump criticised the ruling on Thursday, describing it as “a bad decision” and “very unfair”.
“Our country suffers because of it, and we’re ending in a different way,” he said.
