- President Trump signed executive orders targeting "birth tourism" to prevent foreign nationals from traveling to the US solely to obtain citizenship.
- The measures direct officials to deny visas to suspected birth tourists and limit citizenship for children of specific foreign groups.
- Trump claims the policy closes a commercial loophole, but scholars argue birthright citizenship remains a constitutionally protected guarantee.
- These orders follow a recent Supreme Court setback and face certain legal challenges regarding the Fourteenth Amendment.
Washington/Kathmandu: Just weeks after suffering a major setback in the US Supreme Court, President Donald Trump is once again trying to reshape America's immigration policy. On Thursday, he signed two executive orders targeting commercial "birth tourism" and narrowing the circumstances under which some children born in the United States could qualify for automatic citizenship.
The move signals that one of Trump's most contentious immigration priorities remains firmly on the White House agenda. Although the Supreme Court blocked his broader attempt to end birthright citizenship earlier this year, the administration is now pursuing a more targeted approach—one that focuses on what it calls the commercial exploitation of the US citizenship system.
"We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright. It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we're making adjustments," Trump told reporters after signing the orders in the Oval Office.
A Renewed Focus on Birth Tourism
The centrepiece of the new policy is a crackdown on birth tourism, a practice that has become increasingly controversial in recent years.
Birth tourism refers to the practice of pregnant women travelling to another country—most commonly the United States—with the primary purpose of giving birth there so that their child automatically acquires citizenship. Because the United States follows the principle of birthright citizenship, almost every child born on American soil becomes a US citizen regardless of the parents' nationality or immigration status.
While many families see it as a way to secure better educational, economic and travel opportunities for their children, critics argue that organized birth tourism has evolved into a lucrative international business that exploits American immigration laws.
Across several countries, private agencies openly advertise "US birth packages," arranging visas, accommodation, hospital care, translators and legal paperwork for expectant mothers. These businesses often promote the long-term benefits of an American passport, including easier access to education, employment and future immigration opportunities.
The Trump administration says such operations have transformed a constitutional right into a commercial enterprise.
Under one of the newly signed executive orders, immigration authorities will be instructed to deny visas or entry to people suspected of travelling to the United States through commercial birth tourism arrangements.
Narrowing Birthright Citizenship
The second executive order seeks to limit automatic citizenship in a number of specific circumstances.
According to the White House, federal agencies should not issue citizenship documents to children born to women who entered the country through commercial birth tourism schemes. The order also covers children of members of designated terrorist organizations, certain foreign government employees and individuals born in US territories where citizenship is not granted under federal law.
Administration officials insist the revised policy is far narrower than Trump's earlier executive order and is intended to address only categories they believe fall outside the constitutional protections recognised by the courts.
A Debate Rooted in the Constitution
At the heart of the controversy is the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868 after the Civil War. It states that all people born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are US citizens.
For more than 150 years, American courts have interpreted that language to mean that nearly everyone born on US soil automatically becomes a citizen, regardless of their parents' immigration status, except in limited cases such as children of accredited foreign diplomats.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the amendment was intended to protect the children of formerly enslaved people—not to encourage foreigners to travel to the United States to secure citizenship for their newborns.
"The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted right after the Civil War. It was meant to protect the children of formerly enslaved people. Now people are building businesses around birthright citizenship," Trump said.
Most constitutional scholars disagree with that interpretation, arguing that decades of court decisions have firmly established birthright citizenship as a constitutional guarantee that cannot be significantly altered through executive action alone.
White House Defends the Move
Standing alongside the president, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said the administration was acting to close what it considers a major loophole in the immigration system.
According to Miller, some travellers obtain tourist visas while concealing their intention to give birth in the United States. Once the child is born, he said, that child gains the rights of an American citizen, including access to public benefits and, eventually, the right to vote.
Miller argued that the administration's objective is not to undermine legitimate citizenship but to prevent organized abuse of immigration laws.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf also attended the signing ceremony.
Why Birth Tourism Is So Controversial
Supporters of stricter immigration policies argue that birth tourism creates an unfair pathway to American citizenship and encourages misuse of temporary visas. They say the growth of companies marketing overseas childbirth packages demonstrates that citizenship has become a commodity for sale rather than a constitutional safeguard.
Critics, however, contend that the scale of birth tourism is relatively small compared with the millions of births that occur annually in the United States. They argue that the Constitution does not distinguish between children based on the intentions or immigration status of their parents and warn that limiting birthright citizenship through executive orders could undermine one of America's oldest constitutional protections.
Another Legal Battle Appears Inevitable
The latest executive orders come just weeks after the US Supreme Court rejected Trump's earlier effort to broadly restrict birthright citizenship, reaffirming the long-standing interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Legal experts expect the new measures to face immediate challenges in federal courts. Civil rights organizations have already indicated that they will oppose any attempt to narrow constitutional protections through executive action.
Whether the administration's revised approach survives judicial scrutiny remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the debate over birthright citizenship and birth tourism is far from over. As the White House presses ahead with its immigration agenda, the issue is once again set to become one of the defining legal and political battles in the United States, with implications that could shape immigration policy for years to come.
