US District Judge Deborah Boardman on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the enforcement of President Trump’s dual executive orders (EOs) targeting birthright citizenship, largely on the grounds that the orders violate a prior Supreme Court ruling on the issue.
President Trump issued the orders in early August 2026, directed at ending “birth tourism”, about a month after the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v Barbara that children born in the United States to parents that are unlawfully or temporarily in the country are citizens for the purposes of the 14th Amendment. This holding thereby invalidated the administration’s previous attempts at cracking down on birthright citizenship.
The first of the new orders removes the citizenship status of children born of different categories of people: foreign diplomatic staff, “alien enemies”, those seeking to acquire citizenship through fraudulent means or commercial transaction, and those giving birth in a territory of the US where citizenship is not conferred by statute.
The second order is directed specifically at birth tourism, mandating that children of women who come to the US solely to give birth will not receive citizenship status.
White House staff indicated that the goal of the orders was to issue crackdowns in a much more forceful manner. Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stated that: “If you’re telling a consular officer you’re here as a tourist but your true purpose and intent is to go to a baby mill, give birth and try and mint an American citizen while you’re here, then you’re committing fraud against the American government, and by definition, that visa can and should and will be now denied.”
The orders have been criticized by numerous rights organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin for its harshness, unconstitutionality, and disproportionate reaction for the size of the problem at hand. President Trump has indicated his disdain for mothers who come to the US to give birth and said that their actions have resulted in hundreds of thousands of babies being born under false pretenses, however experts say that this is a relatively rare phenomenon, both in the US and across the globe.
In her decision, Boardman indicated that refusing to recognize an individuals citizenship as guaranteed under the Constitution would cause irreparable harm to many lawful citizens and that the Supreme Court has already ruled that these individuals cannot just be stripped of their constitutional rights.
“The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are “citizens at birth,” said Boardman. “Barbara is the law of the land. The President must follow it.”
Her preliminary injunction applies to all babies born after February 19, 2025, however she conveyed that the vague nature of the EOs fail to address who they apply to and whether or not they operate retroactively or prospectively.