A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s latest executive order targeting birth tourism, handing immigration activists another courtroom victory over the administration’s efforts to tighten entry rules.

The preliminary injunction prevents federal officials from enforcing the order while the legal challenge proceeds.

The executive order focuses on foreign nationals who enter the United States using temporary visas with the purpose of giving birth on American soil.

Trump argues that organized birth tourism operations exploit visa categories and transform temporary visits into lasting immigration benefits.

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Trump signed the birth tourism order earlier this month alongside another directive addressing birthright citizenship.

The new actions followed a Supreme Court ruling that rejected the administration’s previous attempt to restrict automatic citizenship for certain children born in the United States.

During the Oval Office signing, Trump criticized the Supreme Court outcome as “very, very unfortunate” and said his administration was revising its approach.

“So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”

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Trump also tied the original understanding of birthright citizenship to the aftermath of slavery, arguing that the policy has since been twisted into a profitable immigration industry.

He said wealthy foreign nationals and commercial operators are exploiting a constitutional guarantee that was never intended to function as an international citizenship purchase program.

“This was done right after the Civil War. This was for the babies of slaves, and what’s happening now, people are building businesses around it,” Trump said.

“Wealthy people are building businesses around birthright citizenship. That’s not the way it was supposed to work. It’s a disgrace. They’re buying their way in, and we’re not going to let it happen.”

United States District Judge Deborah Boardman, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued the preliminary injunction in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Her ruling blocks the administration from immediately carrying out restrictions contained in Trump’s revised order while the court considers the broader constitutional and statutory arguments.

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Immigrant rights advocates requested the injunction after previously obtaining a ruling from Boardman against Trump’s initial 2025 executive order limiting birthright citizenship.

The same courthouse is now serving as another obstacle to an administration trying to enforce immigration law rather than treating every visa category as an open invitation.

The revised order draws a distinction between lawful temporary travel and entering the country specifically to secure citizenship for a child.

It defines birth tourism as entry through a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth in the United States, including efforts by others to arrange or facilitate that entry.

Trump’s order declares that American citizenship is a profound national inheritance rather than a benefit available through calculated use of temporary immigration rules.

“Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws, such as by entering the United States on a nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth within the Nation’s borders.”

The order argues that birth tourism operators misuse visas intended for study, cultural exchange, temporary employment, tourism, and other short term activities.

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According to the administration, those schemes drain consular and enforcement resources, weaken confidence in immigration law, and interfere with the federal government’s ability to protect national security.

Trump delegated implementation authority to the secretary of state and the secretary of homeland security under federal immigration law.

Those officials would be permitted to develop rules, policies, and operational guidance aimed at ensuring that temporary visa classifications are used for their lawful purposes.

Possible enforcement measures include denying visas or travel authorization to people suspected of planning birth tourism, revoking existing permission, barring future entry, or removing foreign nationals involved in such schemes.

The order also allows action against organizations, businesses, and individuals that facilitate birth tourism inside or outside the United States.

The directive contains exemptions allowing the secretary of state or homeland security secretary to make exceptions for humanitarian reasons or when entry serves the national interest.

It also states that implementation must remain consistent with applicable law and available congressional funding.

The order includes a severability provision intended to preserve the remaining sections if one part is declared invalid.

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For now, however, Boardman’s injunction has frozen Trump’s newest attempt to shut down an industry built around temporary entry, strategic childbirth, and the expectation that American taxpayers and institutions will simply accept the arrangement.

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