Highlights
- Trump signed two executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship and targeting birth tourism.
- The move follows the US supreme court’s June 30 ruling that blocked his earlier attempt to end automatic citizenship for most people born in the US.
- Immigration experts and civil rights groups said the new orders could face legal challenges.
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at limiting birthright citizenship and restricting what his administration calls “birth tourism”, weeks after the Supreme Court blocked his earlier attempt to change citizenship rules.
One order signed by Trump on Thursday (6) targets people who take part in commercial “birth tourism” arrangements by seeking to deny them entry into the US.
The second order expands the categories of people who, according to the administration, should not automatically receive birthright citizenship. It includes children whose parents are foreign citizens working on behalf of foreign governments.
On June 30, the US Supreme Court blocked Trump’s earlier executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, upholding the long-standing interpretation that nearly all people born in the US are citizens.
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office after signing the new orders, Trump criticised the Supreme Court’s decision and said the latest action was intended to “make adjustments”.
“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright, it was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments,” Trump said.
He was joined at the signing by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf.
A constitutional provision
Birthright citizenship is based on the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which was ratified on July 9, 1868. The amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalised in the US, including formerly enslaved people after 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.
Miller, a key figure behind Trump’s immigration policies, alleged that some people enter the US claiming to be tourists but intend to give birth so their children become American citizens.
“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.
One of the new orders lists categories of people who should not receive citizenship documents, including children whose mothers enter the US as part of a commercial arrangement to give birth.
The order also refers to children whose parents are members of terrorist groups, children of foreign government employees, and children born in US territories where citizenship is not automatically granted under federal law.
Experts challenge the legality
Immigration lawyers and rights groups have challenged the legality of the orders, arguing that they conflict with the Constitution.
“Trump’s new EO on birthright citizenship is also blatantly unconstitutional when it precludes citizenship if the parents of the person engage in a commercial transaction to ensure that the person’s mother is present in the United States, or a territory of the United States, to give birth,” Cyrus Mehta, a New York-based immigration attorney, said in a post on X.
“The meaning of commercial transaction is too vague and violates the 14th Amendment. It should be struck down,” he added.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, estimates based on census data suggest that between 22,000 and 26,000 babies may be born annually in the US through birth tourism arrangements. Government data, however, recorded 9,600 births in 2024 to mothers with foreign addresses.
“The Supreme Court already decided 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,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.
(PTI)
