Featured Image: yourNEWS Media Illustration
The department said U.S. embassies identified schemes in West Africa, North Africa and Europe that used visa fixers, coaching and delivery planning to help foreign nationals give birth in the United States.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The State Department said it has revoked visas and shut down birth tourism networks spanning West Africa, North Africa and Europe after U.S. embassies uncovered schemes designed to help foreign nationals enter the United States to give birth so their children could obtain American citizenship.
The department announced the enforcement actions June 10 in a series of posts on X, saying the Trump administration is moving to protect the integrity of U.S. citizenship and stop misuse of visitor visas.
“Under President Trump, the State Department is defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes,” the department wrote in one post.
“No foreigner is permitted to obtain a visitor visa for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the U.S.,” the department stated.
Birth tourism refers to traveling to a country with birthright citizenship primarily to give birth there so the child receives citizenship. The United States has remained a major destination for the practice, often because foreign parents seek better opportunities or a backup plan for their children.
In West Africa, the State Department said one U.S. embassy uncovered a network involving more than 100 foreign nationals who allegedly relied on fraudulent documents and visa fixers to obtain visas.
“A U.S. embassy in West Africa uncovered a sophisticated birth tourism network of more than 100 foreign nationals using fraudulent documents and visa ‘fixers’ to get themselves visas in order to get U.S. citizenship for their children,” the agency said in a post.
The department said it shut down the network, revoked visas and began coordinating with local authorities to identify and stop similar operations.
In Europe, the State Department said another U.S. embassy identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases since 2024. Investigators traced those cases to at least six companies that allegedly helped applicants prepare for visa interviews, arranged housing in the United States and coordinated delivery plans.
“In Europe, a U.S. embassy identified more than 400 suspected birth tourism cases since 2024,” the department said in another post.
“Investigators traced them to at least six companies that coached applicants on what to say in their visa interview, arranged U.S. housing, and set up delivery plans,” the agency added.
A separate case involved North Africa, where the department said a U.S. embassy revoked more than 100 visas from parents who came to the United States primarily to give birth.
The embassy “revoked over 100 visas for ‘birth tourist’ parents who came to the United States primarily to give birth so their children would get U.S. citizenship,” the State Department said in a post.
The department said consular officers and local law enforcement worked to stop the North African scheme.
In another statement, the State Department said a U.S. visa “is a privilege, not a right.”
“The State Department is taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system,” the post added.
The visa actions come as birthright citizenship remains central to a broader U.S. immigration debate. In early 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and people in the country on temporary visas. Multiple lower courts blocked the order.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter in the coming weeks, before its current term ends in late June or early July.
In the executive order, Trump argued that the 14th Amendment “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States” and said it was primarily intended for formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
The administration has also tightened rules around H-1B visas, though a judge this week blocked a $100,000 fee established by the administration for the foreign specialty worker permits.
The State Department said its latest birth tourism actions are part of a broader effort to prevent foreign nationals from using visitor visas to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children through planned births in the United States.
Original article
Comments