Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a sweeping crackdown on organized “birth tourism” Wednesday, revealing that the State Department has revoked more than 600 visas as the Trump administration targets networks accused of exploiting US immigration laws.
The enforcement effort is being carried out through the newly created Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force, which has taken action against hundreds of foreign nationals around the world during its first month of operation.
“American citizenship is not for sale,” Rubio declared on X.
The initiative targets operations that allegedly help foreign nationals travel to the US primarily to give birth, allowing their children to acquire US citizenship under the principle of birthright citizenship.
Rubio accused commercial birth tourism operations of going beyond simply arranging travel.
“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,” Rubio said.
The crackdown does not itself change the 14th Amendment or eliminate birthright citizenship.
Instead, the State Department is targeting alleged visa fraud, deception and organizations that facilitate birth tourism.
State Department rules implemented in 2020 already direct consular officers to deny certain visitor visa applications when officials determine that the applicant’s primary purpose for traveling to the US is giving birth in order to obtain citizenship for the child.
The new task force expands the government’s enforcement efforts through retrospective visa reviews, revocations and coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.
Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, an associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, said the issue presents complications because giving birth while visiting the US is not itself necessarily a crime.
“Birth tourism represents a conundrum for policymakers,” Putzel-Kavanaugh told Newsweek.
“Giving birth on U.S. territory is not inherently illegal, but coming to the U.S. intentionally to give birth and the actions of the companies that Rubio describes, like visa fraud, are crimes,” she added.
Putzel-Kavanaugh distinguished birth tourism from other circumstances in which children born in the US obtain citizenship.
“The phrase ‘birth tourist’ is used to describe someone who comes to the U.S. for the sole purpose of giving birth, resulting in U.S. citizenship for that child,” she said.
Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, praised the administration’s increased focus on the practice.
“Birth tourism undermines the integrity of birthright citizenship as asylum shopping undermines our humanitarian programs,” Beck told Newsweek.
Beck noted that the US has maintained a policy since 2020 allowing officials to deny visitor visas to people whose primary purpose for traveling to the country is giving birth, according to the Conservative Brief.
He argued that enforcement before individuals enter the US has become increasingly important following court rulings protecting birthright citizenship.
“That makes it all the more important to stop birth tourism before entry,” Beck said.
Beck also called on Congress to formally codify restrictions targeting the practice, pointing to proposed legislation that would explicitly make tourists inadmissible when their intent is to enter the country to give birth for citizenship purposes.
The enforcement push comes as immigration remains a major priority for President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Trump has separately pursued efforts to restrict the application of birthright citizenship through executive action, triggering significant constitutional litigation.
Rubio’s latest initiative takes a different approach by targeting how foreign nationals obtain permission to enter the country rather than directly challenging the citizenship status of children after they are born.
The State Department has not publicly disclosed which countries account for the more than 600 visa revocations or identified the specific organizations allegedly involved in the birth tourism networks.
Rubio indicated that the enforcement campaign will continue.
“The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship,” he said.
