President Trump signed two executive orders on 6 August 2026 that take a second run at narrowing birthright citizenship, five weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his broader 2025 attempt. The first order directs every federal agency to stop issuing documents that recognize US citizenship for children born in the United States when neither parent is a citizen and the birth falls into one of four defined categories, including births arranged through what the order calls commercial birth tourism. The second order tells the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to tighten visa rules for foreign nationals who travel to the US to give birth. Agencies have 30 days to publish implementation guidance, and legal challenges are widely expected.
Background
The Fourteenth Amendment has long been read to grant citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil. An executive order signed in January 2025 tried to deny automatic citizenship to children of parents without permanent status; on 30 June 2026 the Supreme Court rejected that order in Trump v. Barbara by a 6-3 vote, reaffirming birthright citizenship for children born to parents, in the Court's words, "for whom no extraterritorial fiction applie[s]". The new orders are built around that phrase: instead of the sweeping 2025 approach, the administration now lists specific categories of parents it argues fall outside the rule the Court announced, and frames the orders as consistent with the ruling rather than a challenge to it.
What exactly changed
The citizenship order applies where neither parent is a US citizen and identifies four categories, non-exhaustively: children of parents designated as members of foreign terrorist organizations or as global terrorists; children of foreign-government and international-organization personnel who hold immunity, such as diplomats and embassy staff; children born through transactions arranged so that the birth happens on US soil, including surrogacy arrangements entered into to obtain citizenship for the child; and births in US territories where no federal statute confers citizenship. For these cases it instructs the State Department, DHS, the Attorney General and the Social Security Administration to align passports, immigration records and Social Security issuance with the policy, with agency guidance due within 30 days of signing. The separate birth-tourism order delegates presidential authority to the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security and directs them to halt the practice, which the Associated Press reports will mean tighter visa limitations for pregnant travellers seeking to give birth in the US.
Before vs after
- Old: the 2025 order denying citizenship to children of parents without permanent status was blocked in the courts and struck down 6-3 on 30 June 2026.
- New: agencies are directed to withhold citizenship documents in four defined categories, including commercial birth tourism and surrogacy-for-citizenship arrangements.
- New: State and DHS are directed to tighten visa scrutiny for travellers whose purpose is giving birth in the US.
- Timeline: implementation guidance from every agency is due within 30 days of the 6 August signing.
Who it affects
The categories are much narrower than the 2025 order, so most families living in the US on work or student visas are not named in the text. The people most directly affected are pregnant travellers applying for or holding B visitor visas, who can expect more questioning about the purpose of travel; international intended parents using US surrogacy arrangements, since the order explicitly reaches surrogacy contracts aimed at obtaining citizenship; and staff of foreign governments and international organizations who hold immunity, whose US-born children were already generally outside birthright citizenship under long-standing practice. Anyone weighing a move to the US can follow the wider picture in our United States country guide (/country-guides/united-states).
What this means in practice
Nothing changes at consulates or hospitals on day one: the orders set policy direction, and the concrete rules arrive when agencies publish guidance over the next 30 days. Travellers who are pregnant and applying for a US visitor visa should be prepared for direct questions about the purpose of the trip and should answer truthfully; a consular finding that the primary purpose is giving birth has been a ground for refusal under a State Department rule in force since 2020, and enforcement is now set to tighten. Families considering US surrogacy should have an immigration or family-law specialist review how the citizenship order could affect a child born under a future arrangement. Court challenges to the citizenship order are expected and could pause parts of it before the guidance lands.
When it takes effect
Both orders were signed on 6 August 2026. Federal agencies must issue implementation guidance within 30 days, so the operational rules should appear by early September 2026 unless courts intervene first.
What is not yet confirmed
The orders do not yet spell out consular procedures, evidence standards, or whether the citizenship directive applies only to births after the signing date. Litigation is widely anticipated and could suspend some or all of the measures. Treat the current text as direction of travel, not settled rules.
Key Takeaway
The US is moving again to limit birthright citizenship, this time through four defined categories and tighter visas for birth tourism, with agency rules due within 30 days and court fights ahead.