US revokes over 600 visas in fresh crackdown on birth tourism

The United States has revoked more than 600 visas held by foreign nationals as part of a sweeping new campaign to curb so-called “birth tourism”, the State Department said on Wednesday, signalling a tougher approach towards travellers suspected of entering the country to give birth and secure US citizenship for their children.

The crackdown is being spearheaded by a newly established Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force, which has been tasked with identifying visa holders who travel to the United States with the intention of giving birth, as well as the individuals and networks that facilitate such journeys.

According to the State Department, the task force is examining the travel and visa histories of people across the world. It is also drawing on information held by the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to identify patterns that could point to birth tourism.

“The birth tourism task force has taken action by revoking more than 600 visas from foreign nationals across the globe to safeguard our nation from this abuse,” the department said in a fact sheet.

The campaign comes in the wake of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on 6 August. The order defines birth tourism as the practice of entering the United States on a non-immigrant visa with the purpose of giving birth on American soil. It also targets those who arrange, facilitate or profit from such travel.

Under the order, the secretaries of state and homeland security have been empowered to take a range of measures against people found to have participated in birth tourism, including denying or revoking visas, preventing entry, removing travellers from the country and permanently barring them from returning. The order also allows for humanitarian and national-interest exemptions.

The State Department said birth tourism had evolved into a profitable business, with facilitators promoting packages that combine travel, accommodation, medical care and assistance with the visa process. Some operators, it said, present themselves as doulas, midwives or wellness consultants while advertising childbirth services in the United States.

Officials alleged that some networks go further, helping clients conceal their real intentions by coaching them on how to answer questions during visa interviews and by providing or falsifying medical documents. Some travellers, the department said, have also been encouraged to evade hospital bills.

Online advertisements, according to the department, have marketed the prospect of “automatic citizenship” and “a future without borders”, highlighting the attraction of giving birth in the United States.

Consular officers have cited several cases in which travellers allegedly misrepresented their plans.

In one instance, a couple presented a conference and a shopping trip as the reasons for their visits, while their actual intention was to give birth to two children in the United States. The couple allegedly lied about their purpose of travel in two separate visa applications and concealed the existence of one child during the second application. Their visas were subsequently revoked.

In another case, a foreign government official applied for a visa for what was described as a one-week official visit. Instead, she remained in the United States for three months, where she gave birth before departing. Her visa was revoked.

A third traveller reportedly told officials she intended to holiday in Orlando but travelled instead to Los Angeles, where she gave birth just five days after arriving in the country. Her visa was also revoked.

The State Department said visas are generally revoked when officials find indications that a traveller may no longer be eligible to hold one. Secretary of state Marco Rubio has broad discretionary authority to revoke visas, the department said.

At the heart of the debate is the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, which establishes citizenship for people born or naturalised in the United States who are subject to its jurisdiction. The provision has for generations served as the constitutional foundation for birthright citizenship.

The latest campaign therefore places a longstanding constitutional principle alongside the administration’s effort to deter what it describes as an organised and increasingly commercialised practice. The State Department has made clear that its new task force will continue scrutinising visa holders and the networks accused of turning childbirth on US soil into a lucrative international enterprise.

With IANS inputs