Despite witnessing multiple defeats in lower courts and the US Supreme Court over the issue, President Donald Trump has limited birthright citizenship in the United States.
On Thursday, the White House announced that the Republican leader had signed two new executive orders to what was described as protecting “the meaning and value of American citizenship after Trump v Barbara.”
The legal battle in question didn’t end in Trump’s favour, as a June 30 ruling saw the Supreme Court strike down one of his previous executive orders seeking to end birthright citizenship.
At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that the presidential order didn’t align with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which confers citizenship on anyone “born… in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
Which new executive orders has Trump signed?
Among the executive orders signed on August 6, the first one non-exhaustively identifies certain categories of children of immigrants who are not entitled to birthright citizenship, thereby limiting the number of people eligible for US citizenship.
Meanwhile, the second one delegates presidential authorities to the Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) and the Secretary of Homeland Security (currently Markwayne Mullin), directing them to halt the practice of birth tourism.
The Trump White House stressed that the current administration will continue to “guard against efforts to obtain citizenship by malign foreign actors and other categories of aliens whom the Supreme Court recognized are ineligible for birthright citizenship under historically recognized exceptions” despite the recent legal defeat in the Supreme Court.
Trump’s defeat in Supreme Court
Donald Trump has been relentlessly pursuing tactics to end birthright citizenship since he returned to office in January 2025. On the first day back, he signed the executive order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which was meant to go into effect 30 days after that. However, it never did due to several federal judges across the country challenging its implementation.
Merely a few days back, a final judgment was issued, with authorities publicly publishing the official document on August 3, stating:
“ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT to the United States Courts of Appeals for the First Circuit.
THIS CAUSE came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the above court and was argued by counsel.
ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, it is ordered and adjudged by this Court that the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire is affirmed.”
In a social media post shared in July, Trump asserted, “I will be asking for a Rehearing by the United States Supreme Court, IMMEDIATELY. This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don’t change their absolute insane decision.”
He added, “Billions of Dollars will be illegally made by this SCAM, with Citizenship going to anyone willing to pay,” he wrote on Truth Social. “It will be, by far, the number one way of becoming a citizen, and then the entire family will be allowed to follow. Not sustainable. NOBODY SAW THIS COMING!!! AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP IS NOT FOR SALE!”
According to the SCOTUSblog, the court’s standard procedures suggest that the clerk issues a certified judgment about 32 days after the initial ruling. And so, the Trump administration had this time to appeal the case again, but the MAGA leader failed to do so despite making big proclamations about it previously.