Trump Signs New Executive Orders to Restrict Birthright Citizenship

President Donald Trump has signed two new executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, a move that comes just weeks after the Supreme Court upheld the right as constitutionally protected.

The orders, signed Thursday (April 17), are far narrower in scope than Trump's previous effort to curb birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to nearly all children born on U.S. soil.

The first order seeks to expand an already limited exception to birthright citizenship, which does not grant U.S. citizenship to children of foreign diplomats or invading forces.

The second order directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to curb so-called “birth tourism” — the practice of mothers coming to the U.S. solely to give birth.

Like the earlier attempt, the new orders are expected to face legal challenges.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump criticized the Supreme Court for issuing “a very disappointing decision” when it rejected his initial bid to restrict birthright citizenship.

“They turned birthright citizenship into a joke,” Trump said, adding that his administration is “adjusting” its approach.

Earlier, on January 20, 2025 — the first day of his second term — Trump signed an executive order seeking to redefine the 14th Amendment, tightening who qualifies for birthright citizenship.

That order argued that children born to immigrants on temporary visas or without legal status were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. and therefore could not be automatically granted citizenship.

But by June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump's effort to “narrow” birthright citizenship was unlawful, citing the Constitution's Citizenship Clause.

“If Congress intended to confine U.S. citizenship to children born to persons resident in the United States, the brief language of the Citizenship Clause does not say that,” the court's majority opinion stated.

Trump has made his hardline stance on immigration a centerpiece of his political career. However, the Supreme Court's ruling is seen as one of the biggest legal defeats of his second term.

Despite a conservative majority on the nine-justice bench, six justices voted against Trump's bid to change who qualifies for birthright citizenship.

The administration's central argument was that the 14th Amendment was meant only for the children of freed slaves and had been misinterpreted since its ratification in 1868.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative justice, wrote that “there is scant evidence for this radical revision.”

“The framers of the 14th Amendment extended that promise to 'all persons born in this country,'” he wrote. “We keep that promise today.”