Trump renews bid to limit birthright citizenship after Supreme Court blocked first attempt

WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship for specific groups, a move that could lead to renewed legal challenges.

“They’ve taken birthright citizenship and they’ve made a joke out of it,” Trump said.

The Supreme Court previously blocked Trump’s first attempt to limit birthright citizenship, but he is now trying again.

“I thought we were going to win it at the Supreme Court, very unfair decision. Our country suffers because of it, and we’re ending it a different way,” Trump said.

The executive orders aim to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States under certain circumstances. This includes children of some foreign government workers, individuals classified by the government as alien enemies, and children born through commercial birth tourism.

Birth tourism refers to cases where individuals allegedly enter the country deceptively, primarily to give birth and secure American citizenship for their child.

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born in the United States. However, the administration has argued that these cases fall under longstanding exceptions to that protection.

The new orders are more narrowly focused than Trump’s initial attempt, but they could send the debate over who qualifies as an American citizen back to court.