President Trump signed executive orders Thursday targeting what he calls “birth tourism,” seeking to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to foreign nationals. This marks the administration’s second effort to restrict birthright citizenship, occurring just one month after the Supreme Court invalidated a previous attempt to limit protections guaranteed by the Constitution.
The specific details of the new orders remain undisclosed, though officials indicate they expand the categories of children deemed ineligible for birthright citizenship and aim to prevent what the president characterizes as widespread birth tourism practices. Trump claimed the practice involves “hundreds of thousands” of people annually, though immigration policy experts offer significantly lower estimates. According to the Migration Policy Institute, birth tourism accounts for approximately 22,000 to 26,000 annual births, with government data suggesting only 9,600 births to foreign-resident mothers in 2024.
The timing of these orders follows a major legal setback for the administration’s immigration agenda. The legal challenges ahead may prove substantial, given the constitutional protections established by the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to those born on U.S. soil regardless of parental status.
Originally reported by Theguardian →
About the Author
