State Department shuts down alleged birth tourism schemes

State Department shuts down alleged birth tourism schemes

The Trump administration said Wednesday it will no longer allow foreign visitors to receive temporary visas for the purpose of giving birth to a child with U.S. citizenship. The crackdown came after the State Department said it uncovered what it described as several illegal birth tourism schemes.

Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., released a Wednesday statement voicing support for the

crackdown. American citizenship is a privilege, not a right, he wrote. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., also lauded the State Department in a Wednesday statement and called for Homeland Security to proactively prosecute lawbreakers.

What kind of schemes were allegedly uncovered? The State Department said it discovered several birth tourism networks operating on different continents. A U.S. embassy in West Africa uncovered a sophisticated network using fake documents to get themselves visas so that their children could be born in the country with U.S. citizenship, according to the State Department. Over 100 foreign nationals were involved in that scheme, and their visas have been revoked, according to the State Department. A second U.S. embassy in North Africa revoked over 100 visas for alleged birth tourism parents who traveled to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth.

A third U.S. embassy in Europe flagged over 400 suspected birth tourism cases within the last two years. Investigators traced those cases to several companies that coached visa applicants on visa interviews, arranged for housing in America, and set up birth plans, the State Department said. Officials revoked the alleged fraudsters’ visas and permanently banned several individuals from traveling to the United States again. Consular officers and law enforcement are using data analytics to identify and dismantle more visa abuse networks, the department said.

The announcement spotlighted an ongoing debate over the concept of birthright citizenship.

What are critics of birthright citizenship saying? President Donald Trump on Thursday issued a statement saying the United States could no longer live with what he characterized as the shackles of birthright citizenship. He went on to call the idea economically unsustainable. In January 2025 he issued an executive order calling for an end to birthright citizenship to children born of a mother who was in the United States illegally.

What about supporters of birthright citizenship? Birthright citizenship was created in the wake of slavery to guarantee citizenship in the wake of slavery, according to a statement from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office. In Trump v. Barbara, a case currently before the Supreme Court challenging Trump’s executive order, defenders of birthright citizenship argue that the concept is based on the centuries-old, common-law tradition of citizenship by virtue of birth, rather than parentage.