WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump moved Thursday to salvage key pieces of his effort to restrict birthright citizenship, signing two new executive orders just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court dealt his administration a major setback on the issue.
Trump signed the orders on August 6, 2026, with one directing federal agencies to deny recognition of birthright citizenship in several specific circumstances and the other launching a broader crackdown on so-called “birth tourism” — foreign nationals traveling to the United States on temporary visas for the purpose of giving birth to a child who would become an American citizen.
The moves represent a narrower approach following the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling that dealt Trump a setback on birthright citizenship. As NIT previously reported, the decision upheld citizenship protections for children born in the United States while Vice President JD Vance and other conservatives argued the broader constitutional fight was far from finished: Supreme Court hands Trump birthright citizenship setback, but Vance says ruling shows fight may be far from over.
In that decision, the nation’s highest court held that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the country are generally “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment.
Rather than abandon the issue, the Trump administration is now focusing on circumstances it argues fall within historically recognized exceptions to automatic citizenship.
The controversy had already been building for months. In June, NIT reported that the State Department said U.S. embassies had uncovered international birth-tourism networks involving hundreds of foreign nationals allegedly using fraudulent documents, visa fixers and coaching operations to enter the United States and give birth: Trump administration says global birth tourism networks exposed as citizenship fight heads through courts.
Under Trump’s first new order, federal agencies are directed not to issue or recognize documents establishing U.S. citizenship when neither parent is a citizen and certain additional circumstances exist.
Those categories include children whose parent is considered an “alien enemy,” including certain members of designated terrorist organizations; children of foreign government employees such as diplomats and some embassy personnel; and cases where parents allegedly engaged in a commercial transaction or fraud to obtain U.S. citizenship through childbirth.
The order specifically includes arrangements in which parents pay to ensure a pregnant woman is in the United States to give birth, as well as certain paid surrogacy arrangements intended to obtain citizenship.
It also addresses births in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not otherwise granted by federal law.
Federal agencies are expected to issue guidance implementing the order within 30 days.
Trump’s second order, titled “Ending Birth Tourism,” targets foreign nationals who travel to the United States on nonimmigrant visas specifically to give birth.
“Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws,” the order states.
The administration argues that international businesses have developed around the practice, with operators advertising American citizenship and other future immigration benefits to prospective customers overseas.
Under the order, the secretary of state and secretary of homeland security are given authority to tighten visa and admission policies aimed at stopping birth tourism.
Possible enforcement actions outlined by the White House include denying visas, refusing entry into the United States, revoking travel authorization and removing foreign nationals who engage in birth tourism.
The order goes considerably further in some cases, allowing officials to consider permanently barring entry to foreigners found to have entered or attempted to enter the country for birth tourism purposes.
Federal authorities may also take action against businesses, organizations and individuals accused of facilitating birth tourism operations.
Humanitarian and national-interest exemptions may still be granted by the State Department or Department of Homeland Security.
The White House portrayed Thursday’s actions as an effort to work within the boundaries established by the Supreme Court while continuing Trump’s campaign to tighten the rules surrounding American citizenship.
Trump’s immigration agenda has produced a mixed record before the Supreme Court this summer. Just days before the birthright citizenship setback, NIT reported that the administration won two major immigration cases involving asylum restrictions and deportation protections: Trump scores two major Supreme Court immigration wins as Iowa GOP leaders push tougher border enforcement.
The administration maintains that the Supreme Court did not eliminate all exceptions to birthright citizenship and that the president retains substantial authority over visas and admission of foreign nationals.
The legal battle, however, is unlikely to be finished.
The 14th Amendment declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” are citizens of the United States. Exactly how far the executive branch can go in defining exceptions to that language has now become the center of Trump’s renewed strategy.
The new orders could trigger additional lawsuits testing whether the administration’s narrower categories — particularly those involving birth tourism — are consistent with the Supreme Court’s June ruling.
For Trump, Thursday’s action makes clear that the Supreme Court setback did not end his effort.
Instead, the administration has changed tactics, turning from a sweeping restriction on children born to illegal or temporary immigrants toward targeted exclusions and aggressive enforcement against foreigners accused of traveling to America specifically to obtain citizenship for their children.