Trump signs new orders targeting birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his earlier attempt to limit the right.

The new orders, reported by Axios, seek to curb citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are not legal residents. This move follows the Supreme Court's June ruling that upheld the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship for all individuals born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' immigration status.

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We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright, it was close. But a very, very unfortunate decision. So we're making adjustments.

One of the executive orders specifically targets "birth tourism," where foreign nationals enter the U.S. solely to give birth. It directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop regulations to stop this practice. U.S. law already prohibits obtaining a tourist visa with the primary purpose of giving birth in the country.

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This has been something that people have talked about, not only for years, but for decades. The idea that people come here pretending to be a tourist, pretending to be a visitor, saying they want to go to Disneyland or they want to go visit a monument or go to a national park, but the real reason they're here is to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen, leave our country, and then have a U.S. citizen child. It gives them access, under this broken system, to welfare benefits, ultimately to the voting booth, and all the other rights and privileges that belong solely to Americans.

The second order expands the definition of those ineligible for birthright citizenship. This includes children of foreign diplomats working for other states, children of individuals deemed enemy aliens or belonging to federally declared terrorist organizations, and individuals born in U.S. territories if Congress alters the law. This latter provision could affect residents of Puerto Rico.

Despite the Supreme Court's decision, Trump reportedly told reporters that he believes the new orders are legal. He had previously vowed on Truth Social to pursue a new legal challenge after his initial effort was blocked. Trump has claimed that signs along the southern border and within Mexico advertise "births from $4,000" as a way to gain U.S. citizenship, calling it a "fraud."

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This was done right after the Civil War. This was for the babies of slaves.