US DOJ orders ‘birth tourism’ crackdown
The US Justice Department has instructed federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations and prosecutions targeting “fraudulent birth tourism schemes” that allegedly help foreign nationals travel to the US to give birth and obtain citizenship for their children.
In a memorandum issued on Tuesday and shared on social media, Deputy Attorney General Colin M. McDonald instructed all US Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division to work with the Department of Homeland Security to bring to account “those who engage in this unlawful conduct, as well as those who solicit and sell these criminal services to others.”
Many of these schemes begin with visa applications that misrepresent the purpose or duration of travel to the US, the memorandum states, adding that they “exploit our immigration system and violate criminal law.” The possible charges include visa fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and wire fraud.
The crackdown was first announced in June when the State Department said it revoked hundreds of visas and was dismantling networks in Africa and Europe that allegedly help foreign nationals obtain visitor visas under false pretenses for the purpose of giving birth in the US.
“Illicit ‘birth tourism’ networks charge tens of thousands of dollars and coach individuals to commit visa fraud by lying to our consular officers,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott wrote on X at the time.
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868 to secure citizenship rights for formerly enslaved people and their descendants after the Civil War. Under the amendment, nearly anyone born on US soil automatically becomes a citizen, regardless of their parents’ nationality.
The renewed enforcement campaign comes after the US Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship, ruling that it violates the 14th Amendment.
During Trump’s first term, the State Department introduced rules aimed at curbing birth tourism. The measures allow consular officers to deny visitor visas if they determine an applicant’s primary purpose is to obtain US citizenship for a child through birth in the country, while requiring those seeking medical treatment to document their treatment plans and ability to pay. The rules remain in force today.
Estimates suggest that birth-tourism cases account for less than 1% of the 3.6 million births recorded nationwide each year.
