President directs federal agencies to pursue foreign nationals and organized operations accused of exploiting temporary visas to secure U.S. citizenship for their children
By Lucretia Hughes Klucken
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said his administration is preparing “very big crackdowns” on birth tourism after signing two executive orders intended to protect the value of American citizenship and restrict the exploitation of the nation’s immigration system.
Trump said Thursday that enforcement against birth tourism would be conducted “in a much more forceful manner” as his administration moves to prevent foreign nationals from entering the United States primarily to give birth and obtain automatic citizenship for their children.
“We’re going to have very big crackdowns on birth tourism,” Trump said.
The president signed one order directing the secretaries of state and homeland security to use their existing legal authority to halt birth tourism. A second order identifies additional categories of people the administration argues fall within historically recognized exceptions to birthright citizenship.
The orders represent Trump’s latest attempt to address what his administration describes as the abuse of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Birth tourism occurs when a pregnant foreign national travels to the United States on a temporary visa for the primary purpose of giving birth. Because nearly every child born on American soil is recognized as a U.S. citizen, the practice allows the child to receive the benefits of citizenship despite the parents having no permanent legal connection to the country.
The White House said some participants work with commercial operators that coach clients on how to conceal pregnancies, misrepresent their purpose for traveling and evade immigration screening.
This is not immigration. It is exploitation.
American citizenship is not a souvenir that should be handed out as part of an international vacation package. It is not a product to be purchased from an overseas travel agency or obtained through deception on a visa application.
Citizenship establishes a permanent relationship between an individual and the United States. It carries constitutional protections, access to an American passport and, later in life, the ability to sponsor certain relatives for legal immigration.
That is why the administration is right to treat organized birth-tourism operations as a threat to the integrity of the immigration system.
The birth-tourism order states that temporary visa categories created for travel, study, work and cultural exchanges have been exploited by people seeking a permanent foothold in the United States.
Trump delegated presidential authority to the State Department and Department of Homeland Security and ordered the agencies to strengthen enforcement against foreign nationals and businesses involved in such schemes.
Those efforts could include greater scrutiny of visa applications, investigations of suspected fraud and enforcement actions against companies that help foreign nationals misrepresent the purpose of their travel.
Federal law already allows officials to deny a visa when they determine that an applicant’s primary purpose is traveling to the United States to give birth. Visa fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft laws may also apply when organized operations use deception or false documents.
The Justice Department previously instructed federal prosecutors to prioritize certain birth-tourism investigations. Trump’s latest order signals that the administration intends to expand and intensify that enforcement.
The second executive order addresses birthright citizenship more broadly. It identifies categories of children the administration argues are not automatically entitled to citizenship under historical exceptions recognized by the courts.
The 14th Amendment declares that all people born or naturalized in the United States “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are citizens.
The meaning of that final phrase has remained at the center of the legal and political battle.
Trump has argued that the amendment was never intended to guarantee citizenship to every child born on American soil regardless of the parents’ relationship or allegiance to the United States. Opponents contend that the Constitution protects citizenship for nearly everyone born in the country, with only narrow exceptions such as children of accredited foreign diplomats.
The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s earlier, broader effort to restrict birthright citizenship in June. The new orders attempt to work within what the administration says are exceptions acknowledged by the court while separately targeting visa fraud connected to birth tourism.
They are almost certain to face additional lawsuits.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigration advocacy organizations argue that the president cannot change the constitutional meaning of citizenship through executive action. Legal challenges will likely focus on the 14th Amendment, federal immigration statutes and the extent of presidential authority over visas and citizenship determinations.
Those disputes should be decided through the courts.
But the legal debate over birthright citizenship must not become an excuse for ignoring deliberate visa fraud.
A constitutional protection does not give foreign nationals a right to lie on an application, conceal the purpose of their travel or participate in a commercial operation designed to evade American immigration laws.
The United States has every right to determine who enters the country temporarily and for what purpose.
Other nations enforce their borders, protect their citizenship and punish people who obtain immigration benefits through fraud. America should be expected to do the same.
For decades, Washington politicians refused to confront obvious loopholes because they feared criticism from activists who treat nearly every immigration enforcement action as an attack on immigrants.
There is a difference between welcoming legal immigrants who want to become part of this country and permitting wealthy foreign clients to purchase access to American citizenship through organized schemes.
One respects the United States. The other treats the country as something to be used.
Critics will accuse Trump of being cruel or anti-immigrant. Those accusations have become predictable whenever he attempts to enforce immigration law.
But protecting the meaning of citizenship is not cruelty. Expecting visa applicants to tell the truth is not discrimination. Prosecuting businesses that profit from immigration fraud is not extremism.
It is the basic responsibility of a sovereign nation.
The administration must still explain how enforcement will distinguish between legitimate visitors who unexpectedly give birth while in the country and those who entered as part of a planned scheme. Pregnant women should not automatically be treated as criminals, and enforcement must remain consistent with the Constitution and federal law.
That does not make enforcement impossible. It requires evidence, proper screening and due process.
Trump’s announcement sends a clear message: The administration will no longer look the other way while foreign nationals and commercial operators manipulate temporary visa programs to obtain the permanent benefits of American citizenship.
The courts will determine how far the president’s citizenship orders may legally go. Congress may also need to act if lawmakers want lasting changes to immigration statutes.
In the meantime, the executive branch already possesses the authority to investigate visa fraud, prosecute criminal enterprises and deny entry to people who misrepresent why they are coming to the United States.
That authority should be used.
American citizenship is a priceless inheritance secured through sacrifice, protected by the Constitution and carried with both rights and responsibilities.
It should never be reduced to a loophole, a business transaction or a tourism package.
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