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Trump signs 2 immigration actions to curb 'birth tourism,' limit birthright citizenship
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− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump signs 2 immigration actions Additional details weren't provided, but Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump signs new orders targeting birthright citizenship, weeks after SCOTUS ruling President Trump is once again attempting to put restrictions on who is automatically guaranteed citizenship after being born in the U.S., just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his attempt to end birthright citizenship.
− National Trump signs 2 immigration actions to curb 'birth tourism,' limit birthright citizenship August 6, 20266:06 PM ET By
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug.
+ National Trump signs new orders targeting birthright citizenship, weeks after SCOTUS ruling August 6, 20266:06 PM ET Juliana Kim
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug.
− Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is once more trying to limit the number of people who are born in the country who can become American citizens, in a sign that even after his first attempt at limiting birthright citizenship was rejected by the Supreme Court, he's ready to try again.
+ Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
President Trump is once again attempting to put restrictions on who is automatically guaranteed citizenship after being born in the U.S., just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his attempt to end birthright citizenship.
− The president said he was signing two executive actions on immigration.
+ On Thursday, the president signed two executive orders, this time taking a more narrow focus on so-called "birth tourism."
The NPR Politics Podcast Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship The first order aims to exclude babies born to members of foreign terrorist groups or employees working for foreign governments, such as ambassadors.
− He said one will limit the number of people eligible for U.S.
+ The second order removes automatic citizenship for babies whose parents engaged in "birth tourism." This is an issue that Trump has raised for years, and the term refers to when pregnant foreigners visit the U.S.
− citizenship after being born in the United States.
+ in order to give birth, so that their newborn can obtain American citizenship.
− A second order seeks to curb what Trump called "birth tourism" by increasing restrictions on visitors to the U.S.
+ Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller was at the Oval Office when the executive orders were announced, calling the crackdown on the practice one of the most important actions that Trump has taken when it comes to immigration.
"It ends what has been one of the gravest and most egregious abuses of the American system, and it keeps American citizenship sacred," he said.
Trump tried to restrict birthright citizenship last year through an executive order signed on his first day in office.
− who want to obtain visas to give birth while in the country.
+ That one targeted babies born to parents in the U.S. illegally or on temporary visas.
− Additional details weren't provided, but Trump said he thought his latest actions would be constitutional.
+ The order was quickly challenged in the courts and this June, the Supreme Court struck it down, reaffirming that birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
− In June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's previous efforts to declare that children born to people in the U.S.
+ National Some critics of birthright citizenship say it's a fraud issue.
− illegally or temporarily aren't American citizens, and upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship.
+ What does that mean? David Bier, an immigration policy analyst with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said that he expects a swift response in the courts.
− On Trump's first day in office of his second term, he signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, which allows anyone born in the United States to automatically become an American citizen.
+ "This is a situation where you would hope that the Supreme Court would step in very quickly to enforce its prior decision," he said.
− The NPR Politics Podcast Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship Trump's administration was immediately sued by opponents who said the executive order went against the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, which makes anyone born in the country a citizen, with very limited exceptions.
+ The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
− The executive order was blocked by several lower courts and never took effect.
+ Over the years, there have been some crackdowns on covert, lucrative businesses coaching travelers on how to conceal their pregnancies from immigration authorities. But the actual scale of the practice is unclear.
− In June, the Supreme Court struck down Trump's order by a 6-3 vote.
+ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in 2024, fewer than 10,000 babies were born in the U.S.
− But the vote was too close for many immigration advocates and legal observers who felt the legal question of birthright citizenship was a long-settled issue.
+ to foreign residents.
+ Meanwhile, the Center for Immigration Studies — a group that supports restricting immigration — estimates that temporary visitors gave birth to about 70,000 babies in 2023.
Both estimates suggest that tourist births make up a small fraction of the 3.6 million babies born in the U.S. every year.