What is birthright citizenship and how common is birth tourism in the US?

What the report says

US President Donald Trump has issued new executive orders aimed at tightening access to US citizenship, including measures that target birth tourism and broaden the categories of children excluded from automatic citizenship. The BBC reports that the orders were signed on Thursday and come after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to narrow birthright citizenship in June.

Birthright citizenship, or jus soli, generally gives citizenship to most people born on US soil under the 14th Amendment, with limited exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats and some births in specific US territories. Trump’s new order on birthright citizenship seeks to deny automatic citizenship in certain cases involving two non-citizen parents, including where one parent is alleged to be linked to a foreign terrorist group, works for a foreign government, has tried to obtain citizenship fraudulently, or is living in a territory without federal citizenship rights. The BBC notes that some of these categories already align with existing rules, while the terrorism-related provision may be legally uncertain.

A separate order directs the State Department and Homeland Security to step up enforcement against birth tourism, which refers to foreign nationals travelling to the US specifically to give birth so their child can obtain citizenship. The BBC says this practice is already illegal, but Trump argues that operators market it through misleading promises.

The article says there are no official figures specifically tracking birth tourism, though the Centers for Disease Control estimated just over 9,500 births to foreign women in the US in 2024. A Migration Policy Institute estimate places annual birth-tourism births at about 20,000 to 26,000. The issue remains significant because it sits at the intersection of immigration policy, constitutional law and the long-running debate over who should receive US citizenship at birth.