Trump issues executive orders to curb birth tourism and tighten birthright citizenship rules

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Thursday intended to limit birthright citizenship for specific categories of non-citizen parents and to strengthen enforcement against birth tourism. The first order expands the list of non-citizens whose children are ineligible for automatic citizenship, adding children of parents who belong to foreign terrorist groups, are foreign government employees, have obtained citizenship fraudulently, or reside in U.S. territories where citizenship is not granted by federal law. Policy analyst Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh of the Migration Policy Institute said the new criteria raise practical questions about how membership in a terrorist group would be verified and who would bear the burden of proof.

The second order directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to tighten regulations and increase enforcement against operators who market birth tourism services. The order states that such operators use deceptive advertising promising citizenship, public benefits, and short-term accommodation, but often fail to deliver.

Birthright citizenship, or "jus soli," is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment and applies to nearly all persons born on U.S. soil, with limited exceptions for children of foreign diplomats, enemy combatants, and certain residents of unincorporated territories. Data from the Centers for Disease Control show that just over 9,500 babies were born to foreign-resident mothers in 2024, representing about 0.25% of total U.S. births. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 20,000-26,000 births each year result from birth tourism, roughly 0.5-0.7% of all births, acknowledging the difficulty of capturing intent in official statistics.

The administration previously argued before the Supreme Court that birth tourism undermines the intent of the 14th Amendment. Solicitor General John D. Sauer contended that unrestricted birthright citizenship fuels the industry and creates a generation of citizens with limited ties to the United States. Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether birth tourism should affect the legal analysis, to which Sauer replied that the phenomenon demonstrates unintended consequences of the amendment.