The bottom line. The ACLU and other groups filed a motion on Aug. 11 asking a federal judge to block two new executive orders signed Aug. 6 that narrow birthright citizenship beyond the narrow exception the Supreme Court reaffirmed on June 30.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups filed a motion in the U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, asking Judge Joseph Laplante to enjoin two executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on Aug. 6: "Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" and "Ending Birth Tourism."

The filing comes five days after Trump signed the orders, which follow the Supreme Court's June 30 decision in Trump v. Barbara striking down his first, broader attempt to end birthright citizenship. The challengers are the same plaintiffs who won that case.

"It's well past time for these illegal and cruel attacks on children's citizenship to end," said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project.

What the New Orders Do

The Aug. 6 birthright citizenship order applies to several groups beyond the narrow exception the Supreme Court recognized for children of foreign ministers. It would deny automatic citizenship to children of other foreign citizens in the U.S., including employees at foreign embassies, employees of foreign governments present in an official capacity, and employees of international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.

The order also excludes children whose parent is designated as an "alien enemy" under federal law, and children whose parent "engage[d] in a commercial transaction to ensure that the person's mother is present in the United States" to give birth — a provision aimed at "birth tourism." It further applies to children born in U.S. territories or territorial waters where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute; under current law, babies born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands are entitled to citizenship, while those born in American Samoa are not.

In their motion, the challengers argue that the Supreme Court's June 30 ruling "reaffirmed … that the Citizenship Clause … granted citizenship to nearly all children born in the United States," subject only to "narrow exceptions" for children of ambassadors and certain 19th-century Native American tribal members. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority that the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause sweeps broadly, with only those limited exceptions.

The challengers contend that even if the new order includes some categories — such as children of ambassadors — for whom the president can legally deny citizenship, the order applies far more broadly, covering embassy employees without full diplomatic immunity and individuals designated as "alien enemies." They argue the president cannot create new exceptions to the citizenship clause through executive action.

"If the President issues 100 orders seeking to create new exceptions to the sacred guarantee of the Citizenship Clause, all 100 will be equally illegal," the filing said.

Administration Response

A White House spokesperson said: "The Trump administration has always followed court orders. All actions taken by the president since the recent supreme court rulings are consistent with the holdings and analysis set forth by the court."

Trump called the Supreme Court's decision "a very unfortunate decision" and said the administration was "making adjustments" because the ruling was "very unfair." The deadline to ask the justices to reconsider the June 30 ruling passed in late July.

What This Means Right Now

Children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders remain covered by the earlier injunction while the new motion is pending.

The categories newly affected by the Aug. 6 order are children of foreign nationals employed at embassies, at international organizations, or in official government capacities, and children covered by the birth tourism provision. Whether the order reaches them depends on the court's ruling on the motion.

That ruling will also address whether the president may continue to issue executive orders narrowing birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court's June 30 decision.