Trump signs orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism

US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at narrowing birthright citizenship and banning what the White House described as birth tourism. The move is part of a renewed push to change who is eligible for citizenship at birth in the United States. It comes as immigration remains one of the central issues in Mr Trump's domestic agenda.

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The White House said the orders would increase the number of people born in the United States who are ineligible for birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is a constitutional provision that grants US citizenship to anyone born on US territory while under its jurisdiction, or to those with at least one American parent. Mr Trump has made limiting that right one of the priorities of his immigration crackdown.

The latest action follows a setback in June, when the US Supreme Court rejected an earlier effort by Mr Trump to roll back birthright citizenship. After that ruling, he called on Congress to act. The president has previously described the provision as "stupid" and said "the drug cartels love it", reflecting the political language he has used to argue for tighter immigration controls.

The order on birth tourism also targets a practice that has long been criticised by Republicans, although there is no US law that outright bans it. The term is generally used to describe people who travel to the US late in pregnancy so their child is born on American soil and can obtain citizenship. A federal regulation introduced in 2020 during Mr Trump's first term already prohibits the use of temporary tourist and business visas for the primary purpose of securing US citizenship for a newborn.

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The issue has legal and political significance because it sits at the intersection of immigration enforcement, constitutional interpretation and executive power. It also raises questions about how far a president can go in changing citizenship rules without new legislation. Supporters of tighter rules argue the system is being exploited, while critics say the Constitution sets a clear standard that cannot be altered by executive order alone.

There are no official figures on how many foreign nationals travel to the US specifically to give birth, or on the cost to taxpayers. An analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies in 2020 estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 mothers came to the US for birth tourism in a year-long period between 2016 and 2017. What remains unclear is how quickly the new orders will be challenged in court, how they will be implemented, and whether Congress will take up the issue after the Supreme Court's earlier ruling.

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