Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, IMMIGRATION NEWS—In wake of defeat before SCOTUS, Trump issues two more EOs on birthright citizenship, (Aug 7, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Secretary of Homeland Security | Secretary of State
By Jason Albright, J.D.
One order directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to halt what the White House calls “the practice of birth tourism.”
On August 6, President Trump issued two more executive orders concerned with the Fourteenth Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee, which the U.S. Supreme Court determined in June generally protects children born in the country to parents unlawfully or temporarily present here as “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and U.S. citizens at birth. The first of the new EOs, dubbed “Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” identifies, in the words of the White House, “certain categories of children of aliens who are not entitled to birthright citizenship consistent with historical exceptions to birthright citizenship recognized by the Supreme Court” in its June 2026 decision. The second new EO, entitled “Ending Birth Tourism,” targets what it defines as “the entry of any foreign national into the United States via a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil” or “any effort by any foreign national to facilitate the entry of any foreign national into the United States via a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil.”
First new EO. The first new EO observes that the Supreme Court’s June Trump v. Barbara decision “extends the privilege of citizenship to children born to parents in the United States ‘for whom no extraterritorial fiction applie[s].’” In view of that narrow exception, the EO purportedly “identifies, non-exhaustively, and prescribes action concerning certain categories of children of aliens who do not fall within the rule of birthright citizenship as announced by the Supreme Court.”
The EO accordingly provides that no U.S. executive department or agency shall issue documents “recognizing United States citizenship to, or accept documents issued by State, local, or other governments or authorities purporting to recognize United States citizenship regarding, persons when neither parent of that person is a citizen” and any of the following is also true:
either parent of that person is an alien enemy;
either parent of that person is a foreign government employee, including an ambassador, an employee of a foreign embassy or consulate who is a national of that foreign country, an employee of a foreign government in an official capacity, or an employee of an international organization that possess international-organization immunity;
either parent of that person engaged in a commercial transaction to purchase or access birthright citizenship for the person, or engaged in fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship; or
the person is born in a territory or territorial waters of the United States where citizenship is not conferred by Federal statute.
“[F]raudulent activity.” The EO defines “fraudulent activity to obtain citizenship” to include “when the parent(s) of the person engage in a commercial transaction to ensure that the person’s mother is present in the United States, or a territory of the United States, to give birth” or “when the parent(s) engage in a commercial transaction with a surrogate present in the United States, or a territory of the United States, to give birth.”
Enforcement and downstream implementation. The EO directs the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Commissioner of Social Security to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that the regulations and policies of their respective departments and agencies are consistent with this order, and that no officers, employees, or agents of their respective departments and agencies act, or forbear from acting, in any manner inconsistent with this order.”
Second new EO and “birth tourism.” The second new EO observes that “Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws, such as by entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth within the Nation’s borders.” According to the EO, “Birth tourism operators use deceptive advertisements and inducements to entice foreign nationals to travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth on American soil.” This alleged phenomenon, in turn, purportedly “undermines the integrity of the Nation’s immigration system by enabling foreign nationals to exploit their temporary admission to obtain permanent immigration-related benefits.”
Directives. The second EO directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to “take such actions and update any rules, policies, operational guidance, or other guidance as necessary to effectuate the policy set forth in this order,” including “appropriate action to prevent the entry into the United States of, or the granting of any visa or other travel authorization to, any alien entering or attempting to enter the United States for the purpose of engaging in birth tourism.”
The EO further contemplates “revoking the visa or travel authorization and permanently barring entry of any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States for the purpose of engaging in birth tourism; denial of entry to, or removal of, any alien who previously engaged or plans to engage in birth tourism; or other appropriate action against entities, organizations, or individuals, within or outside of the United States, responsible for facilitating or enabling birth tourism in any manner.”
Contemplated executive agency collaboration. Finally, the “Ending Birthright Tourism” EO provides, “All other relevant executive departments and agencies shall provide such records and information as are necessary for the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security to implement the terms of this order and the rules, policies, operational guidance, or other guidance issued pursuant to it, subject to applicable law.”
ACLU’s response. Responding to the new EOs, Cody Wofson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrant Rights Project, said, “The Supreme Court already decided this issue: Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution. No additional executive order can change the meaning of the Constitution. Any executive order that tries to rewrite birthright citizenship will meet the same fate as the last one.”
The June decision. The Supreme Court’s June 2026 decision in Trump v. Barbara, 609 U.S. ___ (2026), confirmed the invalidity of Executive Order No. 14160, in which Trump purported to strip the Fourteenth Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantees from certain individuals, born in the United States, based on the immigration status of their parents. The High Court, in a 6-3 decision, held that children born in the U.S. to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Cognizing that provision in its historical context, beginning with the English common law and framed by the Supreme Court’s widely condemned Dred Scott decision, Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, observed that the Fourteenth Amendment mirrored the common law’s criteria for citizenship, starting with territory and ending with sovereign power, and that the Citizenship Clause’s key phrase—“subject to the jurisdiction thereof”—referred to the power of the United States to govern those within its territory.
News: Immigration IndividualRights ImmigrationNews WhiteHouseNews SupremeCourtNews GCNNews