US announces new visa restrictions for birth tourism facilitators

The Trump Administration on Wednesday announced that it was moving to restrict visas to individuals who “engage in or facilitate” birth tourism, arguing that the practice exploits the immigration system by enabling people to obtain American citizenship for profit.

“By restricting visa issuance of those who both engage in and profit from this fraud, we are sending a clear message: The United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of US citizenship,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement here.

Rubio said the move targets individuals who knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism to the United States.

He said such individuals include owners, operators, and managers of commercial birth tourism facilitation networks, visa “fixers” who coach applicants to commit fraud, foreign medical providers who knowingly abet and facilitate such travel and the fraudulent use of the Medicaid system, and other individuals who support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism.

Birth tourism is the practice of traveling to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth so the child obtains US citizenship.

Last month, US President Donald Trump signed two executive orders withholding citizenship documentation from certain children born on US soil and restricting entry for “birth tourism.”

The orders were in response to the Supreme Court striking down Trump’s January 20, 2025 executive order denying automatic citizenship to those born of noncitizens in the US.