President Trump signed two executive orders Thursday restricting birthright citizenship, weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his earlier attempt to eliminate the constitutional right entirely. The new approach targets specific categories of non-citizens and bans so-called birth tourism.

New Restrictions on Automatic Citizenship

The first executive order expands definitions of non-citizens whose children cannot claim automatic citizenship. Babies born in the United States will be denied citizenship if both parents are non-citizens and one parent is a foreign government employee, member of a terrorist organization, attempted citizenship fraud, or lives in U.S. territories where citizenship requires federal statute. The administration frames this as protection against foreign actors exploiting American generosity.

Trump criticized the Supreme Court’s June ruling that blocked his January 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. He called the decision bad and unfair, adding that the country suffers because of it. The President promised to end the practice in a different way through these targeted restrictions.

Crackdown on Birth Tourism

The second order bans birth tourism, where pregnant women travel to America specifically to give birth and secure citizenship for their children. Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said people pretend to be tourists but actually come to have a child, make that child an automatic citizen, then leave the country. Those children later gain access to welfare benefits, voting rights, and privileges belonging solely to Americans.

Trump claimed hundreds of thousands of babies have been born through birth tourism. However, the Migration Policy Institute estimates only 22,000 to 26,000 such births occur annually based on census data. Government records show 9,600 births to mothers with foreign addresses in 2024. Miller cited the Immigration and Nationality Act, which grants presidential authority to set exceptions on who can enter the country, as legal justification.

Constitutional Questions Remain

Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of California Davis, told the BBC that while parts of the order might survive legal challenges, other aspects raise serious constitutional questions. He acknowledged the President has some power to restrict people entering specifically to have children. However, once a child is born on American soil, constitutional protections apply. Legal experts expect immediate court challenges to these executive orders, setting up another potential Supreme Court showdown over birthright citizenship limits.