President Donald Trump signed two new presidential decrees Thursday evening aimed at narrowing the right to U.S. citizenship at birth. One of them bans what his administration calls “birth tourism.”
DR reports that Trump presented the measures to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday evening. He was joined by his adviser Stephen Miller, who described what the decrees are meant to stop. It is the second time Trump has tried to limit birthright citizenship.
Miller said some people enter the United States posing as tourists or visitors, saying they plan to see Disneyland, a monument or a national park. According to his account, the real purpose of the trip is to give birth so the child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen, after which the family leaves the country. Miller said the practice is prohibited from the moment the order is signed.
Miller also argued that such citizenship gives families access to welfare benefits and, eventually, voting rights and other privileges reserved for Americans. DR notes that he set out this reasoning in front of the assembled press in the Oval Office.
CNN reports that one of the two decrees targets so-called “hostile aliens,” members of foreign terrorist organizations and people who lobby or act on behalf of foreign governments. Per Miller, children born to people in those categories would no longer be eligible for U.S. citizenship at birth. The second decree covers birth tourism.
Trump criticizes last year’s Supreme Court ruling
Trump used the appearance to criticize a Supreme Court decision from last year. He said he had expected to win the case, and called the outcome a bad and very unfair ruling that the country is suffering under. He also said the United States is close to being the only country with citizenship by birth.
As reported by DR, the reference is to a decree Trump signed last year. It stated that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally, or who hold temporary visas, would not automatically obtain U.S. citizenship. DR reports that lower courts blocked the measure before the Supreme Court agreed with that outcome.
The new decrees follow other immigration steps by the administration. A presidential proclamation from December 2025 restricts and limits entry for nationals of several countries. That document includes exceptions for lawful permanent residents and for some dual nationals.
Both DR and CNN place the announcement on Thursday, when the White House rolled out the measures. DR reports that Trump linked the new orders to his earlier defeat in court on the same question.
