The United States has announced new visa restrictions targeting individuals who knowingly engage in or facilitate “birth tourism” to the country.
Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State, announced the policy on Wednesday, saying the restrictions would apply to people involved in commercial birth tourism networks, visa “fixers” who coach applicants to commit fraud and foreign medical providers who knowingly facilitate such travel.
Rubio said the policy was being implemented under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act.
According to him, commercial birth tourism networks had exploited the US immigration system by facilitating travel for foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the country primarily so their children could obtain US citizenship.
“Foreign commercial birth tourism networks have exploited the U.S. immigration system to sell U.S. citizenship for profit,” Rubio said in a statement.
He said such networks advertise their services and coach foreign nationals to lie on US visa applications, while collecting tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births in the United States for the purpose of obtaining US citizenship.
Rubio said the new policy would target “individuals who knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism to the United States”.
He said those affected would 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 our Medicaid system, and other individuals who support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism.”
The Secretary of State said Donald Trump administration was using the new policy as part of measures to protect the integrity of the US immigration system and prevent the exploitation of public benefits.
“The Trump Administration is using every tool at our disposal to defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, protect American public benefits and U.S. taxpayers from exploitation, and safeguard our national security,” Rubio said.
He added, “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 U.S. citizenship.”
The US State Department also said certain family members could be covered by the restrictions.
Birth tourism refers to the practice of foreigners travelling to the United States primarily to give birth so that their children can obtain US citizenship.
The US State Department already states that birth tourism is not a permissible purpose for obtaining a visitor visa.
The latest announcement builds on earlier measures by the Trump administration targeting birth tourism.
In August, the White House highlighted comments by Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser, that birth tourism had been banned and that people could no longer obtain visas for that purpose.
The administration has also pursued changes to US immigration and visa screening policies.
However, Rubio’s latest announcement did not state that all foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States would be subject to the new restriction
