- President Trump signed a pair of executive orders targeting birthright citizenship, including by limiting it and addressing birth tourism.
- Trump called the Supreme Court's decision "very unfair" and said the new orders were an attempt to end birthright citizenship by other means.
- The orders were immediately criticized by proponents of birthright citizenship as an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court's ruling on the 14th Amendment.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump's "continued crusade to end birthright citizenship is blatantly illegal" and that Democrats would challenge the orders.
- California Attorney General's office and the ACLU indicated they would review or challenge the new orders, citing the Supreme Court's decision.
- The order purporting to limit birthright citizenship describes certain categories of children who it says do not fall within the rule of birthright citizenship, including those with parents who are foreign government employees, terrorists, or involved in commercial transactions for citizenship.
President Trump has signed new executive orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, following a Supreme Court ruling that rejected his previous attempts. During the signing ceremony, he labeled the court's decision as “very unfair” and claimed the new measures are necessary to combat what he sees as abuses of the system.1234
Trump's orders define birth tourism as “the entry of any foreign national into the United States via a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil”. He emphasized the need for “big crackdowns” on this practice, asserting that wealthy individuals exploit birthright citizenship for their gain. “They’re buying their way in, and we’re not going to let it happen,” he stated.
However, critics, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have condemned the orders as illegal and an attempt to bypass the 14th Amendment. Schumer remarked, “If you are born in America, you are American — period.” Legal experts, including Cody Wofsy from the ACLU, argue that the Supreme Court has already established that birthright citizenship is constitutionally guaranteed, stating, “No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution.”56910
The new orders specify categories of children who may not qualify for citizenship, including those with foreign government employee parents or those born through surrogacy arrangements. This move has raised concerns about its legality and potential challenges in court, as seen in previous attempts to alter birthright citizenship.
In its June ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed that the 14th Amendment provides a right to citizenship for children born in the U.S., a promise that Chief Justice John G. Roberts emphasized as extending to “every free-born person in this land.”
“The orders define birth tourism as entry via nonimmigrant visa for giving birth on U.S. soil, and deny citizenship documents to children of foreign government employees, terrorists, or those paying for surrogates. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move 'blatantly illegal,' and the ACLU vowed the orders 'will meet the same fate as the last one.'”
