As part of his immigration crackdown, President Donald Trump on Thursday signed two executive orders aimed at ending birth tourism and limiting birthright citizenship, insisting that U.S. citizenship cannot be acquired through the exploitation or evasion of laws.
The White House said the executive orders would expand the categories of people who would not be granted automatic citizenship at birth and would prevent foreign nationals from travelling to the U.S. so their children can obtain automatic citizenship.
It argued that visa categories are now being exploited for birth tourism, adding that this “undermines” the integrity of the U.S. immigration system and accused operators of deceiving foreign nationals through advertisements encouraging them to travel to the U.S. to give birth.
The White House said the schemes thrived globally by helping individuals evade U.S. immigration laws to obtain citizenship and other benefits.
Mr Trump directed immigration officials to revoke visas and authorisations of foreign nationals engaging in birth tourism and operators that facilitate it.
However, the order exempts some foreign nationals on humanitarian grounds and when their entry is in the national interest.
The Supreme Court rejected Mr Trump’s earlier effort to end birthright citizenship, ruling that children born in the country to undocumented migrants and parents on temporary visas are American citizens.
The court held that Mr Trump’s executive order, signed upon his assumption of office for his second term on January 20, 2025, violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright,” Mr Trump said. “It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”
Mr Trump directed the secretaries of state and homeland security to take appropriate actions to prevent the entry into the U.S. of foreign nationals seeking to engage in birth tourism, including denying visas or other travel authorisations.
An analysis in 2020 by the Centre for Immigration Studies estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 people entered the U.S. for birth tourism between 2016 and 2017.