United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders in a fresh attempt to limit birthright citizenship after his last attempt was struck down by the Supreme Court.While one order seeks “to expand the definition of people who are ineligible for birthright citizenship”, another aims to prevent people from travelling to the country to give birth. The latter is described by the White House as “birth tourism”.“That practice of birth tourism is, as of the signing of this order, hereby banned,” Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy at the White House, said.🎯 Ensuring large amounts of people who WRONGLY get birthright citizenship will no longer be eligible.🎯 Taking action to BAN birth tourism.@StephenM explains President Trump's bold and impressive record on securing our borders and protecting the value of American… pic.twitter.com/hizsT4BGyw— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 6, 2026
The executive orders also restrict automatic citizenship for children born in the US to foreign government employees and to people classified as “alien enemies”. Executive orders issued by the US president set policy, but do not carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress.On June 30, the US Supreme Court struck down an executive order signed by Trump on January 20 last year that sought to end the automatic recognition of citizenship for US-born children of parents who were in the country illegally and for children of parents on temporary visas.The executive order would have denied citizenship to children born on US soil starting 30 days from the order, if at least one parent was not a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident. The order had been challenged in court by 22 states in the US.Three days after Trump signed the order, a lower court temporarily blocked it and described it as “blatantly unconstitutional”.The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution states that all persons “born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are citizens of the United States. The provision has only certain narrow exceptions, such as the children of foreign diplomats.Since Trump came to power for a second term in early 2025, his administration has launched a crackdown on immigration, and has carried out mass deportations.India’s Ministry of External Affairs has told Parliament that more than 3,000 Indians were deported from the US in 2025.Written by Anamika Pathak. Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.
