August 6 Executive Orders: What Has Happened Since?

It has been just over a week since President Trump issued two new Executive Orders addressing birth tourism and birthright citizenship, including provisions with potentially significant consequences for international families pursuing surrogacy in the United States.

A lot has happened since August 6. Here’s where things stand:

The courts are already being asked to step in.

⚖️ In Barbara v. Trump, the plaintiffs have returned to Judge Joseph Laplante in New Hampshire, who previously protected a nationwide group of children from the earlier birthright-citizenship order. They are asking him to confirm that those protections also apply to the new August 6 order, or to issue new protections if necessary. Their challenge specifically addresses the new “commercial transaction” provision and argues that the President cannot create new exceptions to birthright citizenship beyond those recognized by the Supreme Court.

⚖️ A second case, CASA v. Trump, is also moving forward in Maryland. Here, the plaintiffs have asked Judge Deborah Boardman to reopen the case because the new order may affect members of the nationwide group of children she previously protected. Judge Boardman has moved quickly and scheduled a hearing for August 18.

One particularly important detail emerged from the Maryland case. Lawyers for the U.S. Government told the plaintiffs that the new citizenship order will apply only prospectively and will not take effect until the Government issues guidance explaining how it will be implemented. That guidance has not yet been issued, and this statement from the Government’s lawyers is not the same as formal agency guidance.

🛂 Meanwhile, the Administration has begun taking action on the birth-tourism side. The State Department has announced a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force focused on visa enforcement and suspected birth-tourism networks. The task force has been created, but there is no indication yet that it has taken enforcement action.

An important unanswered question for international intended parents is how the Government will distinguish traditional “birth tourism” from parents traveling to the United States in connection with a gestational surrogacy arrangement.

🔎 So, for now:

• Litigation is moving quickly.
• Government guidance is still expected.
• No court has yet ruled specifically on how the August 6 surrogacy provisions may be applied to international intended parents or their U.S.-born children.

We’ll continue watching closely.