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The State Department says nearly 900 visas have been revoked since the launch of a federal birth tourism task force, as officials target networks accused of helping foreign nationals obtain U.S. visas for the purpose of giving birth and securing American citizenship for their children.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The State Department has revoked nearly 900 visas as part of a widening crackdown on birth tourism, with U.S. officials saying they are confronting international networks that profit by helping foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth.
The total was disclosed Aug. 20 by State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, who said the number of revocations has risen sharply since the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force was established earlier in August.
“When that task force was announced, the secretary (Marco Rubio) noted that we had revoked over 600 visas,” Pigott said during a Thursday interview with Newsmax’s National Report. “I can now say that we are at nearly 900 visas revoked since this task force was launched.”
Birth tourism generally involves a foreign national traveling to another country to give birth so the child can obtain citizenship based on the place of birth.
Pigott described the practice as an international problem involving businesses and networks that market access to U.S. citizenship.
Calling birth tourism “an insidious practice,” Pigott said officials are “seeing this be a global phenomenon, and we’re seeing these networks that are profiting, trying to essentially sell U.S. citizenship.”
He said some operations present themselves as legitimate travel or health-related services while allegedly assisting clients in misleading American consular officials about their reasons for seeking visas.
Pigott said this includes “by advertising a world they say is without borders or automatic citizenship, disguising themselves as healthcare services when in reality it is the insidious practice with birth tourism, and then on top of defrauding consular offices to get that visa, they then coach these people to defraud the American people when they’re here, and leave taxpayers footing the bill for their medical expenses.”
The State Department announced the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force earlier this month, saying the government would deploy its resources to “defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, ensure nonimmigrant visas are used only for their lawful and intended purposes, and prevent their exploitation through birth tourism.”
The department has since released examples of cases it says demonstrate how applicants have allegedly misrepresented travel plans to obtain U.S. visas.
In an Aug. 12 statement, the agency said it had “uncovered patterns that illustrate the lengths some applicants will go to circumvent our laws in order to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.”
One case involved a couple whom the department accused of using a conference and a shopping vacation as explanations for trips that ultimately resulted in the births of two children in the United States.
“One couple used a conference and a vacation trip to go shopping as cover stories to give birth to two children in the United States, lying about their travel purpose in two separate visa applications,” the department said. “On the second occasion, the couple concealed that they had a child.”
Their visas were revoked.
In another case cited by the State Department, a foreign government official requested a visa for what was described as a one-week official trip to the United States.
The department said the individual instead remained in the country for three months, gave birth and then departed. That official’s visa was also revoked.
A third foreign national told officials that the purpose of a U.S. trip was a vacation in Orlando, Florida, according to the agency, but instead traveled to Los Angeles and gave birth there. The State Department said that visa was revoked as well.
The enforcement campaign comes amid a larger legal and political fight over birthright citizenship.
President Donald Trump sought through an executive order to restrict automatic citizenship for some children born in the United States to illegal immigrants and temporary visitors. The policy became the subject of multiple court challenges.
The dispute centers on the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
Trump’s administration argued that the clause was not intended to grant citizenship automatically to every person born on U.S. soil regardless of the legal status or allegiance of the parents.
Under the administration’s position, at least one parent would need to have a stronger legal connection to the United States, such as permanent residency or domicile. Domicile is a legal term referring to the place a person considers his or her permanent home.
The administration has also argued that restricting birthright citizenship could discourage birth tourism and prevent foreign nationals from deliberately arranging U.S. births for citizenship purposes.
Following litigation over Trump’s executive order, the Department of Justice pledged to prioritize investigations into organized birth tourism schemes.
Those enforcement efforts are now operating alongside the State Department’s visa crackdown, which focuses not only on the act of traveling to the United States to give birth but also on alleged fraud committed during the visa application process.
Officials are particularly targeting cases in which applicants are accused of concealing pregnancies, misrepresenting the purpose or duration of their travel, or working with organizations that coach clients on how to gain entry to the United States.
With nearly 900 visas now revoked, the State Department says its task force will continue using immigration and visa authorities against applicants and organizations it believes are exploiting U.S. travel rules to secure citizenship for children through birth tourism.
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