After Supreme Court setback, Trump again targets immigration by expanding definition of birthright citizenship

Following the Supreme Court's June 2026 ruling that children born in the U.S. to unlawfully present or temporary parents are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment, Trump issued two new executive orders in August targeting aspects the ruling didn't address. One denies citizenship recognition to children of 'alien enemies' or foreign government employees; the other directs agencies to curb 'birth tourism,' defined as entering on a nonimmigrant visa specifically to give birth on U.S. soil.

Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller cited Section 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as legal authority, a provision the Supreme Court's June decision never discussed. That statute was previously used to uphold Trump's first-term travel ban in Trump v. Hawaii, on grounds of 'broad discretion' over entry conditions and national security.

At the signing ceremony, Trump called the June ruling 'very unfair' and said the new orders were 'ending it a different way.' Legal scholars are split on characterization: one calls it outright defiance of the Court, while the author describes it as lawful 'avoidance' — finding statutory loopholes the ruling left untouched, which could still hollow out the decision's practical effect by shifting citizenship questions onto parents' immigration status rather than place of birth.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.