What does Trump's 'birth tourism' order mean if you're raising a family between Belgium and the US?
President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at stopping "birth tourism" — travelling to the US so a baby acquires American citizenship on US soil.
In 30 seconds
- La Libre reported on 7 August 2026 that Trump signed an executive order targeting "birth tourism."
- The measure works through visa policy: consular officers may refuse B-2 tourist visas where a baby's US citizenship appears to be the trip's purpose.
- It builds on a January 2020 State Department rule from Trump's first term.
- Belgium grants nationality mainly by descent (jus sanguinis), so there is no equivalent domestic birth-tourism issue.
"Birth tourism" describes travelling to the United States to give birth so the child acquires US citizenship automatically under the Fourteenth Amendment's jus soli (soil-based) rule. La Libre reported on 7 August 2026 that President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing consular officers to refuse tourist (B-2) visas when securing a baby's citizenship appears to be the trip's main purpose. It builds on a January 2020 State Department rule from Trump's first term and runs parallel to his separate, court-contested January 2025 order challenging birthright citizenship itself, which the US Supreme Court addressed procedurally in Trump v. CASA (June 2025). Belgium is affected only indirectly, through its resident dual nationals and "accidental Americans."
Background
US birthright citizenship rests on the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) and the 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Restricting "birth tourism" via visa policy began in earnest with a January 2020 State Department rule under the first Trump administration. The second administration escalated with a January 2025 executive order seeking to narrow birthright citizenship itself, litigated through 2025 and reaching the Supreme Court in Trump v. CASA in June 2025.
What to do
Keep the two systems separate: declare your baby's birth to your Belgian commune or gemeente for the population register; if a US-citizen parent is involved, arrange a Consular Report of Birth Abroad and first passport through the US Embassy in Brussels (be.usembassy.gov). Verify Belgian nationality questions via belgium.be and your commune's nationality service, especially if neither parent is Belgian, and treat visa rules as accurate 'as of August 2026' pending any legal changes.
Impact
Regional — Belgium's communes and gemeenten remain the sole registrars of births locally regardless of the parents' nationality, so the US measure changes none of the day-to-day administrative steps a family in Brussels, Flanders or Wallonia must follow. The relevance is felt mainly by the country's dual US-Belgian nationals and "accidental Americans," for whom any tightening of US citizenship policy is a signal to keep their consular and tax situation under review.
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- Published:
- 7 Aug 2026, 02:00
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 9 Aug 2026
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.