New measures target automatic citizenship for children of diplomats, 'enemy aliens,' and those born in territories like Puerto Rico, with a particular focus on families traveling to the U.S. solely for childbirth.
U.S. President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Wednesday, August 6, 2026, expanding restrictions on birthright citizenship and introducing a ban on so-called 'birth tourism.' The decision comes just one month after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his previous attempt to limit this right, according to Reuters.
According to Axios, the orders target four specific situations in which children born on U.S. soil will no longer automatically receive citizenship. These include children of members of foreign diplomatic missions working for other governments, descendants of individuals classified by the U.S. government as 'enemy aliens,' including members of designated terrorist groups, and babies born in U.S. territories that are not part of the 50 states, such as Puerto Rico. In the latter case, the change would only take effect after Congress passes appropriate legislation.
The fourth and most media-prominent category concerns children of women who entered the U.S. solely for childbirth through commercial 'birth tourism' schemes. The orders also seek to restrict the use of surrogacy for these purposes.
According to Turkey's Anadolu Agency, the new orders require U.S. consular officials to deny visa applications from women found to intend to give birth in the U.S. The White House has not yet released the full text of the decrees.
The Trump administration argues that these pregnant women deceive immigration authorities by concealing the true purpose of their travel, and therefore their children should not be entitled to automatic U.S. citizenship. According to Axios, the measure will only apply to future births, meaning families whose children have already been born in the U.S. will not be affected.
Brazilian outlet G1 highlights that this decision could directly affect Brazilian families who have traveled to the United States for years on tourist or work visas with the sole aim of having their child obtain U.S. citizenship. It is already prohibited in the U.S. to issue tourist visas to foreign women whose primary goal is to secure citizenship for their child, and pregnant women can be turned back at the border if there is suspicion that childbirth is the sole purpose of their trip.
The administration is specifically targeting families who hire companies to organize the entire travel and childbirth process, a practice that, according to G1, is also present among Brazilian citizens.
