Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a State Department task force created last month revoked more than 600 visas while targeting networks accused of helping foreign nationals exploit the U.S. visa system to secure citizenship for children born in the United States.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The State Department has revoked more than 600 visas in roughly one month as part of a new enforcement effort targeting so-called birth tourism, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday.
Rubio said the department created a specialized task force last month to investigate foreign nationals and organizations suspected of exploiting U.S. immigration and citizenship laws by arranging travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth.
In a post on X, Rubio said the task force reviewed visa-holder activity, disrupted illegal birth tourism operations and moved to end what he described as abuse of the nation’s immigration system.
“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,” Rubio said.
He said the department intends to continue using its enforcement authorities against such operations.
“The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship,” Rubio said.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration pursues a broader effort to restrict birthright citizenship and curb birth tourism.
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Thursday aimed at narrowing eligibility for automatic citizenship and ending the practice of traveling to the United States to give birth for citizenship purposes.
The administration’s latest actions follow a Supreme Court decision in June that struck down Trump’s earlier executive order directing federal agencies to interpret the 14th Amendment as not automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal migrants.
“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”
One of the new executive orders broadens the categories of children born in the United States whom the administration says should not automatically receive citizenship.
Those categories include children of “alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments.”
The visa enforcement campaign announced by Rubio operates alongside those broader legal and executive efforts.
Rather than relying solely on changes to citizenship policy, the State Department task force is targeting the visa process itself by investigating whether foreign nationals misrepresented their intentions when seeking permission to enter the country.
Rubio said the task force’s first month resulted in more than 600 visa revocations, while also identifying and dismantling networks accused of arranging housing, travel and fraudulent documentation for foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States.
The administration is presenting the initiative as part of a larger effort to tighten enforcement around both immigration law and the rules governing acquisition of U.S. citizenship.
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