The U.S. State Department has announced that it has created a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to address the vile practice of birth tourism, making use of enhanced reviews of non-immigrant visa holders and coordination of other federal agencies. Birth tourism is a practice where foreign nationals travel to the United States for the sole purpose of having children so they will be given birthright citizenship.
The end goal of the practice is for the children to sponsor their parents to be in the country legally once they reach adulthood. The principle comes from the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which says that any individual who is born on U.S. soil is eligible to be a U.S. citizen. Under current immigration laws, non-immigrant visas, like visitor visas for example, are not authorized for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the country.
If a person comes to the U.S. and misrepresents their purpose for entering the country, they might have their visa denied, revoked, or face other steep consequences. A fact sheet released by the State Department on the same day as the announcement of the task force contains a review of activities the task force will carry out, including a review of visa holders from around the world to identify incidents of birth tourism.
According to a report from Trending News Politics, the task force will also take action to revoke visas of individuals who engage in, or help facilitate the practice of, birth tourism. It also works to destroy networks that make a profit from the practice. The fact sheet revealed that the task force will also conduct analyses of information and connect it with information from the State Department and other federal agencies.
It also monitors travel histories from individuals worldwide and has already revoked a total of 600 visas. The announcement comes hot on the heels of an executive order from President Donald Trump, which defined birth tourism as the entry of a foreign national into the U.S. through a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil, or any effort by a foreign national to help someone else come into the country for the same reason.
It also provides the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security with the authority to implement measures that will put an end to the practice, including rules, policies, and additional guidance. “Under President Trump and Secretary Rubio’s leadership, the Department of State is using all available tools 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 State Department said.
As President Trump has made clear, citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through the calculated exploitation of U.S. immigration laws,” the statement continued. “American citizenship is not for sale. But elaborate birth tourism rings are profiting off the exploitation of America’s laws—coaching foreigners to defraud the U.S. visa system, arranging travel and housing, and even forging documents, all to enable foreign nationals to obtain citizenship for their children,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
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The State Department established a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to review the activity of visa holders, dismantle illegal birth tourism networks, and put an end to this heinous abuse of our nation’s laws. In just one month, the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force has taken action to revoke more than 600 visas from foreign nationals across the globe and will continue to safeguard our nation from this abuse,” Rubio added.