- The Trump administration issued a pair of executive orders this week attempting to place restrictions on birthright citizenship and on foreigners who give birth in the U.S.
- The new executive order is narrower than the previous one struck down by the Supreme Court, focusing on restricting automatic citizenship to specific categories, including children born to adults with connections to foreign embassies or organizations.
- One order disqualifies babies who are products of birth tourism, while the other applies to children of anyone working in a foreign embassy or representing a foreign government.
- Legal experts question the feasibility and legality of the orders, noting that neither the 14th Amendment nor Supreme Court decisions mention surrogates.
- The Supreme Court struck down a previous attempt at restricting birthright citizenship in June, which influenced the adjustments made in the new executive orders.
- Texas has launched a sweeping investigation into potentially unlawful birth tourism schemes, following reports of hospitals advertising birthing services in Mexico.
- Trump’s executive order defines birth tourism as someone who enters the United States on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil.
- The order describes birth tourism operators as using deceptive advertisements and inducing clients to misrepresent travel purposes.
- Officials and advocates disagree on the legality of the new orders, with the ACLU arguing that birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
President Trump’s recent executive orders aim to restrict birthright citizenship by targeting birth tourism and children of foreign officials. The orders disqualify children born to parents with ties to foreign embassies and those involved with designated terrorist organizations.1238
Legal experts have raised concerns about the feasibility of these measures, particularly regarding the identification of parents linked to terrorist groups.45
César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, a law professor, questioned how the government would determine a child's association with such organizations, stating, “These are not organizations that are sharing the membership lists if they even have them.”
The executive order defines birth tourism as entering the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa to give birth. Critics argue that the lack of clear guidelines could lead to arbitrary denials of entry for pregnant women.
The administration claims that “hundreds of thousands” exploit birthright citizenship, but experts like Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh from the Migration Policy Institute suggest this figure is an overestimate. Data from the CDC indicates that in 2024, nearly 9,600 children were born to foreign mothers without U.S. addresses, while estimates of birth tourists range from 20,000 to 26,000 annually.
The orders come amid a broader investigation into unlawful birth tourism schemes, with Texas officials scrutinizing hospitals advertising birthing services in Mexico.
Cody Wofsy from the ACLU emphasized that birthright citizenship is protected by the 14th Amendment, stating, “No amount of executive orders is going to change that.”
“The orders are narrower than the previous attempt struck down by the Supreme Court, focusing on children of foreign embassy workers and those tied to terrorist groups. Advocates warn the birth tourism definition gives immigration officers broad discretion without clear guidelines, while CDC data shows nearly 9,600 such births in 2024.”
