Administration Targets Birth Tourism

The State Department this week announced the creation of a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force. The task force stated that it has already revoked hundreds of visas from foreign nationals seeking to exploit the country's birthright citizenship policy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the abuse on X:

"American citizenship is not for sale.

"Elaborate birth tourism rings are profiting off the exploitation of America's laws—coaching foreigners to defraud the U.S. visa system, arranging travel and housing, and even forging documents, all to enable foreign nationals to obtain citizenship for their children.

"The State Department established a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to review the activity of visa holders, dismantle illegal birth tourism networks, and put an end to this heinous abuse of our nation's laws. In just one month, the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force has taken action to revoke more than 600 visas from foreign nationals across the globe, and it will continue to safeguard our nation from this abuse.

"The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship."

The State Department provided examples from the more than 600 visas it has revoked, including those belonging to multiple foreign nationals who claimed they were attending a conference or vacationing in the United States, but were instead traveling to other locations to give birth.

The task force is the result of President Trump's executive order instructing the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to take steps to "adopt rules, policies, operational guidance, or other guidance" to block entry to foreign nationals aiming to give birth in the United States. You can learn more about the president's immigration-related executive orders by visiting the Immigration Accountability Project's Admin Accountability tool.

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Next Week

Congress is in August recess. The House returns on August 31, and the Senate returns on September 14.