After Supreme Court Setback, Trump Again Targets Immigration by Expanding Definition of Birthright Citizenship

August 19, 2026

President Trump has issued two new executive orders in August 2026 attempting to circumvent a recent Supreme Court ruling that upheld birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents unlawfully or temporarily present. The orders target areas the Court didn't explicitly address: denying citizenship to children of "alien enemies" and foreign government employees, and restricting "birth tourism" where foreign nationals enter on nonimmigrant visas specifically to give birth on American soil. Trump's administration bases these orders on the Immigration and Nationality Act, which grants the president broad discretion over entry of foreign nationals—authority upheld in the 2018 Trump v.

Who is affected

Children born in the U.S. to parents who are "alien enemies" (citizens of countries at war with the U.S.)
Children born in the U.S. to foreign government employees such as ambassadors
Foreign nationals entering the U.S. on nonimmigrant visas for the purpose of giving birth
Children born to these foreign nationals engaging in "birth tourism"
Federal agencies tasked with implementing citizenship recognition policies

What action is being taken

Federal agencies are being directed not to recognize U.S. citizenship for children of certain foreign national parents (alien enemies and foreign government employees)
Federal agencies are being called upon to curtail birth tourism by restricting entry of foreign nationals on nonimmigrant visas who intend to give birth on American soil
The Trump administration is invoking authority under Section 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to implement these directives

Why it matters

This represents a significant challenge to the scope and implementation of birthright citizenship as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause. Even if these executive orders don't ultimately succeed in court, they create uncertainty about citizenship status for immigrant children and shift the determination from the simple fact of birth location to subjective assessments by officials about parents' status or intent. The approach demonstrates how presidents can potentially undermine judicial decisions by exploiting areas the court didn't specifically address, effectively hollowing out the practical effect of constitutional protections while technically not defying the ruling directly.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint