The Trump administration’s second attempt to limit birthright citizenship has hit the same wall as the first. On September 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland blocked key parts of the executive order President Trump signed on August 6, ruling it almost certainly unconstitutional for the children it targets. The White House called her an activist judge and is expected to appeal.
As The Hill reports, the injunction took effect immediately. DHS, the State Department and the Social Security Administration cannot apply the order to any child born in the United States to parents without permanent legal status while the case continues. As of October 3, 2026, the block remains in place.
What the August Order Tried to Do
Trump signed two executive orders on August 6, five weeks after the Supreme Court struck down his original January 2025 order. The first names groups of U.S.-born children the administration says are not citizens: children of anyone the government labels an alien enemy, children of foreign government employees, and children of a parent accused of using fraud to enter or stay in the country. Agencies were given 30 days to publish guidance on applying it.
The second order, Ending Birth Tourism, directs the State Department and DHS to keep out people believed to be traveling to the United States mainly to give birth, along with anyone who helps arrange the trip.
The administration argued the new orders work within the Supreme Court’s June ruling rather than against it. The Court confirmed birthright citizenship as the rule, government lawyers said, but never promised there were no exceptions. Children of foreign diplomats and of an occupying enemy army have never been citizens at birth, and the White House said it was only describing those exceptions more precisely.
Why the Judge Blocked It
Boardman did not spend much of her 35-page opinion on the new categories. She did not have to. In Trump v. Barbara, decided June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that a child born on U.S. soil to undocumented or temporary-status parents is a citizen at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. Chief Justice Roberts traced the rule to the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark and recognized only the historic exceptions, such as children of accredited diplomats.
The families in the Maryland case, represented by CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, are the same families Boardman protected when she blocked the 2025 order. Enforcing the new order against them, she found, would strip citizenship from children the Supreme Court has already declared citizens. In her words, the Supreme Court has spoken, Barbara is the law of the land, and the President must follow it.
What Happens Next
The Justice Department is expected to appeal to the Fourth Circuit, and the case is likely to end up back at the Supreme Court. The justices left some openings in June: Justice Kavanaugh said Congress, not the President, could write new exceptions into law, and Justice Gorsuch’s dissent suggested a narrower reading was possible. Expect the administration to lean on both. Trump has also asked Congress to end birthright citizenship by statute, though no bill has passed either chamber. Other lawsuits against the August orders are pending in other federal courts.
What This Means for Immigrants
For immigrant parents, the practical answer has not changed. A child born in the United States is a U.S. citizen, whether the parents are undocumented, on a temporary visa, have TPS or parole, or are waiting on a pending case. Birth certificates, Social Security numbers and passports should be issued as before, and the protection applies nationwide, not only in Maryland.
The one gray area is the narrow groups the August order singles out: families where a parent works for a foreign government in a non-diplomatic role, or where the government alleges fraud in how a parent entered. The courts have not yet ruled on how the order applies to them. Families in that situation should speak with an immigration attorney before relying on any agency guidance.
The birth tourism order is still in effect, but it cannot take citizenship from a child already born here. It affects visa and entry decisions, so pregnant visitors applying for a visa should expect more questions about the purpose of their trip.
Nothing in this ruling changes naturalization, green cards or any other immigration benefit. The fight is only over who is a citizen at birth. Given how quickly these rules shift, the safest course for anyone affected is to know their rights and get legal advice early. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s know-your-rights page has been updated to reflect both rulings.