US President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders seeking to limit birthright citizenship, weeks after the Supreme Court upheld the practice as protected under the Constitution.

The orders signed on Thursday were far more narrow than Trump's previous attempt to restrict the practice, which confers citizenship to nearly all children born on US soil.

One of the orders seeks to expand a narrow exception to birthright citizenship, which bars US citizenship from being conferred to the babies of foreign diplomats or invading forces.

The second order calls on the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security to halt so-called "birth tourism", the practice of mothers travelling to the US for the sole purpose of giving birth.

Like Trump's earlier attempt, the new executive orders are expected to face legal challenges. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump denounced the Supreme Court for making a "very unfortunate decision" in striking down his initial effort.

"They've taken birthright citizenship and they've made a joke out of it," said Trump, adding that his administration is "making adjustments" to its approach.

On January 20, 2025, Trump had signed an executive order seeking to reinterpret the Fourteenth Amendment, arguing that children born to immigrants on temporary visas or without documentation were not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the US.

But in June, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump's "attempts to narrow" birthright citizenship were unlawful, citing the Constitution's Citizenship Clause. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that there was "scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view".

The ruling represented one of the largest legal setbacks of Trump's second term. Despite a conservative supermajority on the nine-judge panel, six justices voted against Trump's effort to transform who is eligible for birthright citizenship.

Source: www.aljazeera.com