WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a new crackdown on birth tourism in the US by slapping visa restrictions on those who “engage in or facilitate” the practice.
The Trump administration has been exploring avenues to stop birth tourism — where foreigns legally enter the US to give birth so that their children get automatic citizenship — ever since the Supreme Court nixed the president’s executive order on it.
“By restricting visa issuance of those who both engage in and profit from this fraud, we are sending a clear message: The United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of U.S. citizenship,” Rubio said in a statement first reported by Fox News.
On his first day back in the White House, President Trump signed an executive order to end automatic birthright citizenship for both the kin of birth tourists and illegal immigrants.
But the Supreme Court shot that order down in June, prompting Trump’s team to hunt for alternative ways to stop birth tourism and the children of illegal immigrants from gaining US citizenship.
The State Department’s new policy uses powers under the Immigration and Nationality Act to yank visas from those “who knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism to the United States,” including so-called visa fixers, or individuals who coach foreigners on ways to lie or exploit America’s immigration laws.
The US has long maintained a set of rules intended to prevent birth tourism.
Rubio’s announcement came just ahead of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s hotly anticipated visit to the White House on Thursday, his first such visit since 2015.
Multiple GOP lawmakers have raised concerns about birth tourism networks linked to China.
“The Trump Administration is using every tool at our disposal to defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, protect American public benefits and U.S. taxpayers from exploitation, and safeguard our national security,” Rubio added.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump issued twin executive orders in response, including one attempting to deny naturalization to children whose parents are part of designated terrorist organizations and another calling for removal of foreigners believed to be in the US for birth tourism purposes.
Rubio’s announcement on Wednesday is in keeping with that latter executive order.
