President Donald Trump has signed executive orders intended to restrict birthright citizenship for some children born in the US and to strengthen action against “birth tourism”, where foreign nationals travel there to give birth. The measures renew his administration’s effort to limit access to citizenship after an earlier attempt was rejected by the Supreme Court, and they may face legal and practical challenges because birthright citizenship is rooted in the US Constitution.

One order broadens the categories of non-citizen parents whose US-born children would not automatically receive citizenship, including cases involving alleged membership of a foreign terrorist group or attempted immigration fraud. The other directs federal agencies to increase enforcement against birth tourism, which is already illegal when travel is explicitly for the purpose of giving birth; however, the government has no specific figures for how many women enter on tourist visas to do so. Under the 14th Amendment, almost everyone born on US soil is currently a citizen, apart from limited exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats.