Overview
- President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday that limit automatic citizenship in specific situations and direct agencies to crack down on so-called birth tourism.
- The orders list narrow categories for exclusion from birthright citizenship, including certain foreign diplomats and employees, people designated as enemy foreigners or members of terrorist groups, births tied to fraud or commercial schemes, and births in some territories pending congressional change.
- The White House delegated authority to the State Department and DHS to issue rules to deny or revoke visas, refuse entry, expel travelers, and pursue organizations that arrange births for citizenship.
- Legal experts and civil-rights groups said they will challenge the orders in court and face strong headwinds after the Supreme Court in late June reaffirmed broad 14th Amendment protections while leaving only historically limited exceptions.
- Estimates differ on the scale of birth tourism: independent research puts related births at roughly 22,000–26,000 a year while the administration says networks are larger, and the orders could immediately increase visa denials, family separations, and legal uncertainty for pregnant travelers and their U.S.-born children.