A second try at birthright limits, five weeks later

Summary

On August 6, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders: one identifying categories of US-born children of noncitizens the administration says are not entitled to birthright citizenship, and one directing the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to halt 'birth tourism.' A federal judge preliminarily blocked the citizenship order on September 2, 2026.

What happened

On June 30, 2026, in Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Executive Order 14160; the five-justice majority held that children born in the US to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. On August 6, 2026, the President signed two new orders. The first, which the White House said was consistent with historical exceptions recognized in Barbara, excludes children of parents including an 'alien enemy,' a foreign government employee, or someone who 'engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship'; the second directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to halt the practice of birth tourism. On September 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the citizenship order for a certified class in a case brought by CASA Inc., writing that it is 'almost certainly unconstitutional as applied to the certified class' because the Supreme Court 'already decided that the children in the class are citizens at birth.' White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis called it 'just another ruling from an activist judge.'

Impact on the United States

The order would deny citizenship to categories of children born on US soil that a federal judge found the Supreme Court had already held to be citizens, reopening litigation over the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause weeks after the Court ruled. Trump said birth tourism involved 'hundreds of thousands' without offering data; CDC data show nearly 9,600 children were born in 2024 to foreign mothers with an official address outside the US.

Documented effects

1. Aug 6, 2026Two executive orders signed August 6, 2026: one identifying categories of US-born children deemed not entitled to birthright citizenship, and one directing the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to halt 'birth tourism.'[1][2][3]
2. Aug 8, 2026Trump said 'hundreds of thousands' engage in birth tourism without offering data; CDC data show nearly 9,600 children born in 2024 to foreign mothers with an official address outside the US (TIME: fewer than 10,000 such births in 2024, against an estimated 3.6 million total US births in 2025).[2][3]
3. Sep 2, 2026Judge Deborah Boardman preliminarily enjoined the citizenship order on September 2, 2026 for a certified class, calling it 'almost certainly unconstitutional'; Attorney General Todd Blanche said 'if we have to go back to the Supreme Court, we will.'[4][6]

Why this is rated limited

Five weeks after the Supreme Court ruled against the first birthright order, the President issued a narrower order denying citizenship to specific categories of US-born children; a federal judge found it 'almost certainly unconstitutional' as applied to a certified class and blocked it, so realized harm is limited, but it reopened litigation over the Citizenship Clause.

citizenship order preliminarily enjoined September 2, 2026 as applied to a certified class; the ruling did not address the separate birth-tourism order; Attorney General Todd Blanche said 'if we have to go back to the Supreme Court, we will'

Corrections & updates [1]

Every change to a fact on this page after publication is logged here, newest first.

1. Sep 29, 2026ClarifiedSource

   The Supreme Court revised the Trump v. Barbara slip opinion on July 1, 2026; the link now points to the revised opinion the Court lists.[5]

Sources [6]