Trump administration cracks down on 'birth tourism' networks in US

The administration of US President Donald Trump is planning to crack down on networks that help pregnant women lie on visa applications to secure American citizenship for their US-born babies. Trump has highlighted this issue to justify his broader attempts to restrict birthright citizenship.

An internal email from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ordered investigative agents across the country to focus on a new "Birth Tourism Initiative". The operation aims to root out networks that assist pregnant foreign nationals in coming to the US to give birth so their children can receive citizenship.

"Uninhibited birth tourism poses a tremendous cost to taxpayers and threatens our national security," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement, adding that most nations do not provide automatic citizenship at birth.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declined to comment on any ongoing investigations but acknowledged awareness of networks facilitating travel to the US for 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," a spokesperson said.

No US law outright bars birth tourism, but a federal regulation implemented in 2020 during Trump's first term prohibits using temporary tourist and business visas for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for a newborn. Individuals engaged in such schemes could be prosecuted for fraud or related crimes.

Trump issued an executive order on his first day back in office instructing US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident. Multiple federal judges have blocked the order, and the case is now before the Supreme Court.

There are no official figures on how many foreigners come to the US specifically for birth tourism. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated in 2020 that between 20,000 and 25,000 mothers came to the US for this purpose annually between 2016 and 2017.