US President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting so-called “birth tourism”, making another attempt to restrict birthright citizenship for children born in the United States.
"They've taken birthright citizenship and they've made a joke out of it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The move comes after the US Supreme Court struck down his previous effort to restrict birthright citizenship in a ruling in late June, which Trump described as "very unfortunate."
"We're making adjustments because it's very unfair," he said.
Trump adviser Stephen Miller said the new order would also seek to deny birthright citizenship to certain other groups, including children of members of foreign terrorist organisations and people acting on behalf of foreign governments.
The administration has argued that large numbers of people currently receive birthright citizenship despite not being entitled to it.
Trump signed a separate executive order last year seeking to prevent children born to undocumented migrants or people in the US on temporary visas from automatically receiving citizenship.
Lower courts blocked that order, citing the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states that people born or naturalised in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' position in a majority ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts and supported by several conservative and liberal justices.
The 14th Amendment does contain exceptions, including children of foreign diplomats, who are not considered subject to US jurisdiction.
US law also allows authorities to deny visas when a consular officer determines that an applicant's primary purpose for travelling to the country is to give birth.
The Trump administration has argued that the 14th Amendment does not automatically cover children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors.
Trump's latest action is part of his broader anti-immigration agenda, which includes efforts to deport undocumented migrants and end deportation protections for nationals of several countries.
