The US is stepping up the fight against “birth tourism” — Trump signed new decrees

The US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders that seek to narrow the right to automatic US citizenship at birth and step up the fight against so-called birth tourism.

Axios writes about this.

This is a practice where foreigners come to the United States specifically to give birth to a child so that the child automatically receives American citizenship.

This is Trumpʼs second attempt to limit birthright citizenship. The new orders are also expected to be challenged in the courts, as critics say they violate the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to almost everyone born in the country.

At the end of June, the US Supreme Court had already blocked Trumpʼs broader executive order, which would have abolished automatic citizenship for children born in the US to parents who are not citizens of the country.

Who will be affected by the new restrictions?

The Trump administration argues that the Supreme Courtʼs decision still leaves room for exceptions. The new orders apply to unborn babies in only four cases:

• children born to foreign diplomatic personnel and other employees representing foreign governments in the United States;
• children of those whom the American authorities classify as “enemy aliens,” including members of officially recognized terrorist organizations;
• children born in US territories, if Congress in the future abolishes automatic citizenship for them (this primarily applies to Puerto Rico, although the relevant bill has no chance of being passed yet);
• children of women who intentionally entered the United States only to give birth and hid the true purpose of their trip. The decree also provides for combating the use of surrogacy for such schemes.

In addition, the second executive order instructs the US State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to prepare new regulations to combat "birth tourism" both domestically and internationally.

US law already prohibits issuing tourist visas to people who plan to travel to the US primarily to give birth to a child there and obtain US citizenship for the child. Border guards can also deny entry to a pregnant woman if they believe she is traveling for that purpose.

The Trump administration is citing the new restrictions as a way to combat immigration abuse and national security concerns, but human rights activists and experts predict that the new orders will be the subject of lawsuits.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.