Another Crack at Tourism Birthright!
Birthright citizenship
Washington, Aug 6 (EFE).- By David Toro Escobar
President Donald Trump made another attempt Thursday to restrict birthright citizenship with a new executive order targeting so-called “birth tourism,” weeks after the Supreme Court blocked his first attempt to limit the right for children of immigrants in the country illegally.
The new measure, released by the White House, says automatic citizenship should not apply to children of women who travel to the United States to give birth and secure the benefit for their children. It also proposes other exceptions based on the parents’ immigration status and ties to foreign governments.
The move comes after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to deny citizenship to children of immigrants in the country illegally.
The high court ruled June 29, 2026, following lawsuits by states and civil rights organizations that argued an executive order could not alter the guarantee established by the 14th Amendment.
Trump signed an executive order Jan. 20, 2025, the day he was inaugurated for his second term, seeking to deny automatic citizenship to some children born in the United States whose parents were in the country illegally or had temporary status.
Courts blocked the measure following lawsuits by states and groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that Trump could not alter by executive order a right protected by the 14th Amendment.
The Supreme Court, on June 29, 2026, upheld citizenship protections for people born in the country under the prevailing interpretation of the amendment.
Currently, nearly everyone born on U.S. soil becomes a citizen regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The new order seeks to create exceptions for cases such as so-called “birth tourism.”
The executive order Trump signed Thursday changes course and primarily targets so-called “birth tourism,” which the administration defines as foreign women traveling to the United States to give birth and obtain U.S. citizenship for their children.
The order directs federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States when the mother is not legally present in the country and the father is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.
The White House argues that the Supreme Court ruling allows such exceptions because, in its interpretation, the 14th Amendment does not cover people who are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.
The order also lists possible exceptions involving children of foreign government officials, people designated foreign terrorists and children born in unincorporated territories.
Immigrant advocacy organizations reject that interpretation and maintain that birthright citizenship does not depend on the immigration status of a child’s parents.
Trump argues that the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, has been misinterpreted and that its original purpose was primarily to guarantee citizenship to the children of formerly enslaved people after the abolition of slavery.
The traditional interpretation of the amendment holds that anyone born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a U.S. citizen, a principle that has guided the application of birthright citizenship for more than a century.
The principle has accompanied the demographic transformation of the United States, where immigrants make up about 14% of the population and millions of citizens are children of people born abroad.
The administration argues that the new order is narrower than its predecessor and focuses on circumstances it says are not protected by the 14th Amendment. Immigrant advocacy organizations, however, are already preparing to challenge it in court.
The American Civil Liberties Union said birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution and that any attempt to alter it through an executive order will again face legal challenges.
“The Supreme Court has already decided this issue: birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
The new order adds to the broad immigration agenda Trump has pursued since returning to the White House in January 2025, including increased border enforcement, expanded deportations, the suspension of some legal-entry programs and new asylum restrictions.
The latest dispute thus joins a series of legal battles that have accompanied Trump’s immigration policy, with the administration defending a broader interpretation of presidential power and opponents turning to the courts to block some of his measures. EFE
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