United States President Donald J. Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at restricting birthright citizenship in specific circumstances and ending the practice of “birth tourism,” a move expected to impact nationals from Nigeria and several other countries who travel to the United States primarily to give birth so their children can obtain American citizenship.
The orders, signed on Thursday, August 6, 2026, in the Oval Office, come weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a broader attempt by the Trump administration to end automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to non-citizen parents.
The first executive order, titled “Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” directs federal agencies not to issue documents recognising U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States when neither parent is a U.S. citizen and certain conditions apply. These include cases where a parent is classified as an “alien enemy” (such as members of designated foreign terrorist organisations), is a foreign government employee or diplomat, engaged in commercial arrangements or fraudulent activity to secure citizenship for the child, or where the birth occurs in a U.S. territory not covered by existing federal statutes.
The second order, “Ending Birth Tourism,” formally bans the practice of foreign nationals entering the United States on nonimmigrant visas primarily for the purpose of giving birth on American soil. It empowers the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to deny visas, revoke travel authorisations, bar entry, and initiate removal proceedings against individuals engaged in or facilitating birth tourism. Exemptions may be granted on humanitarian grounds or where entry is deemed to be in the national interest.
White House officials described birth tourism as a form of fraud against the American government, noting that applicants who claim tourist purposes while intending to give birth to secure citizenship for their children misrepresent their true intent.
The measures are expected to affect citizens of several countries, including Nigeria, where U.S. diplomatic missions have previously identified and disrupted organised birth tourism networks. In earlier actions this year, U.S. embassies in West Africa reported dismantling schemes involving more than 100 foreign nationals who allegedly used fraudulent documents and visa facilitators to travel to the United States for childbirth. Similar operations were uncovered in Europe involving hundreds of suspected cases linked to commercial organisers.
President Trump stated during the signing ceremony that the practice “should have happened years ago” and criticised the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling as “unfortunate” and “unfair,” adding that the administration was now addressing the issue “a different way.”
Legal experts anticipate that the new orders will face court challenges, as they seek to narrow the application of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause following the Supreme Court’s June 30, 2026 decision in Trump v. Barbara.
The U.S. State Department and Department of Homeland Security are expected to issue detailed implementing guidance in the coming weeks.