Trump signs executive orders to curb birthright citizenship and stop birth tourism

President Donald Trump has signed two new executive orders aimed at curtailing birthright citizenship, a move that arrives just weeks after the Supreme Court rejected his first attempt to change it. The court ruled firmly that the practice remains protected under the Constitution. These Thursday directives are far more narrow than his initial push, which sought to restrict citizenship for nearly every child born on US soil.

One order tries to broaden an existing exception that currently bars citizenship from children of foreign diplomats or invading forces. The second command instructs the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security to stop what Trump calls birth tourism. This is when mothers travel specifically to give birth in America. Like his earlier effort, these new orders will almost certainly face legal challenges in court.

Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump attacked the justices for their recent ruling. He called it a very unfortunate decision that made a joke out of birthright citizenship. His administration says it is simply making adjustments to its approach now. On January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, he signed an order trying to reinterpret the Fourteenth Amendment. That plan argued children born to visitors on temporary visas or without papers were not subject to US jurisdiction and thus could not get automatic citizenship.

The Supreme Court shot that down in June. The majority opinion stated clearly that if Congress wanted to limit citizenship to only those domiciled here, the language of the Citizenship Clause did not convey such a design. Even with a conservative supermajority on the nine-judge panel, six justices voted against Trump's effort to transform who qualifies for birthright citizenship. That was one of the largest legal setbacks of his second term so far.

The administration argued that the 14th Amendment was meant only for children born to newly freed slaves and had been misinterpreted since ratification in 1868. Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative himself, wrote there was scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view. He noted that the Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to every free-born person in this land. We keep that promise today according to his words. Trump has made hardline immigration policy a center-piece of his career, but regulations like these show how government directives directly affect the public and limit access to information about citizenship rules.