ReadNOW

Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s top stories

President Trump announced that he signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship. The orders come after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling affirming that the Constitution grants automatic citizenship for virtually all children born in the United States. Trump’s first order aims to restrict who is eligible for birthright citizenship, including babies born to members of foreign terrorist groups or employees of foreign governments. The second order aims to deny visas to pregnant foreigners that the administration believes are coming to the U.S. to engage in “birth tourism” to ensure their children obtain citizenship.

• 🎧 Authorities have cracked down on businesses that coach travelers on how to hide their pregnancies from immigration officials over the years, ReadNOW’s Juliana Kim tells Up First. The true scale of birth tourism remains unclear. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Immigration Studies indicate that tourist births account for a small fraction of the 3.6 million U.S.-born babies each year. Immigration advocates argue that birth tourism is overstated, Kim says. Like Trump’s previous directive aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, legal experts expect Thursday’s executive orders to face challenges in court as well.

Iran’s parliament is considering an agreement with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal would ban ships connected to the U.S., Israel and other “hostile countries” from the key waterway until Iran receives compensation for war damages. Commercial vessels passing through the strait would be subject to fees of up to 7% of cargo value and a 20% fine for noncompliance. On Wednesday, Iran said it was finalizing a shipping route agreement with Oman, a U.S. ally. The Trump administration disputes Iran’s characterization of the agreement, maintaining that the U.S. currently controls the strait through its naval blockade of Iran. Oman has not commented.

• 🎧 Trump’s public statements about progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran don’t seem to align with the reality of what is understood by Iranians, ReadNOW’s Franco Ordoñez says. Trump is facing significant pressure to end the war, but Iran remains unyielding despite military pressure from the U.S., and it’s making its own demands regarding the Strait. The stalemate has raised concerns from observers that the U.S. may have to accept terms worse than the previous status quo, which was free movement through the Strait. Current negotiations are also focused on the waterway reopening rather than issues like uranium enrichment, which Trump originally cited as justification for the war.