Trump Moves to Restrict Birthright Citizenship and Ban 'Birth Tourism'

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders intended to curb "birth tourism" and restrict birthright citizenship for individuals born in the United States. The White House stated these orders aim to reduce the number of people born on U.S. soil who are ineligible for automatic citizenship.

Limiting birthright citizenship, a constitutional right granted to nearly anyone born in the U.S., has been a central policy of Trump's immigration crackdown. An earlier effort by his administration to alter this policy was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, leading Trump to urge Congress to address the issue.

While no federal law explicitly prohibits "birth tourism", a term often used by Republicans to describe foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. to give birth and secure citizenship for their children, a federal regulation implemented in 2020 during Trump's first term prohibits the use of temporary tourist and business visas for this primary purpose. Individuals engaging in such practices could face prosecution for fraud or related crimes.

Official statistics on the number of foreigners coming to the U.S. specifically to give birth are unavailable. However, an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization advocating for lower immigration levels, estimated in 2020 that between 20,000 and 25,000 mothers may have engaged in birth tourism during a year-long period between 2016 and 2017.

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US President Donald Trump signs an executive order restricting birthright citizenship, as deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller looks on.