U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Launches New Efforts to Stop Birth Tourism

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In a recent update, covered by Reuters and several other outlets, we came to know of an initiative by the Trump administration to intensify the crackdown on networks that facilitate pregnant women to lie on visa applications for securing a U.S. citizenship for their U.S.-born children. President Trump has recently cited this issue in support of the ongoing efforts of the administration to stall the birthright citizenship.

According to a report by Reuters, an internal email by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered a new string of investigations into birth tourism rackets and initiatives. The operation seeks to uncover and root out networks that assist pregnant foreign nationals with the intention of giving birth on U.S. soil.

Below, our EB-1A consultants have discussed this news in detail, along with all the possible ramifications of it, and what to expect.

A synergized effort to crack down on birth tourism?

Previously, in the Supreme Court, the Trump Administration has argued that the threat of birth tourism is the main reason why the automatic citizenship law for children born on U.S. soil is highly problematic. As the White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly puts it: “Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national ⁠security.”

A spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also maintained that there are indeed some networks operating in the U.S. responsible for facilitating ‘birth tourism’:

“While the act of giving birth in the United States is not unlawful, DHS remains focused on identifying and addressing potential violations of federal law associated with these activities.”

While there is no U.S. law that directly prohibits birth tourism, a federal regulation from 2020 (introduced during Trump’s first term) formally prohibits using temporary visas (tourist and business visas) to give birth on U.S. soil and secure citizenship for a newborn. Under this regulation, partaking in birth tourism directly or indirectly is a criminal offense.

Agencies instructed to find fraud and networks of ‘birth tourism’

Several agencies, including the ICE, have been instructed to investigate and probe into possible fraudulent networks of birth tourism. The joint efforts of ICE and the Homeland Security Investigations aim to unearth such cases of fraud:

“HIS is advancing efforts to protect the integrity of U.S. immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes.”

The agency stated that it seeks to dismantle “fraud, financial crimes, and organized facilitation networks that exploit lawful immigration processes.”

These efforts remind us of a shadow from one federal case in 2019 wherein more than a dozen people were charged in a conspiracy to maintain “birth houses” in Southern California that allegedly catered to rich chinese nationals.

Birth tourism as a rationale to limit immigration

Interestingly, in the Supreme Court, previously, the Trump administration highlighted the rationale of the ‘birth tourism’ as a ground to discredit the amendment that automatically guarantees citizenship to a child born on U.S. soil.

On his first day, Trump already instructed the U.S. agencies not to amend the citizenship of children born in the U.S. if neither parent is already an American citizen. This constitutes one of the significant breaks from the established legal precedent.

At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts regularly write about the latest updates, analysis, and insights on the U.S. immigration landscape. Stay tuned to our blog section to get regular updates on immigration news. We wish you a safe and stress-free immigration journey ahead.