The State Department says it will deny tourist visas to individuals who give birth primarily for their children and travel primarily to the United States to gain citizenship.
The US State Department issued a warning Thursday to foreigners planning to acquire US citizenship for their children through “birth tourism.”
The State Department said tourist visas would be denied by people traveling to the country for the main purpose of giving birth to US soil.
33,000 births per year
The State Department says the entire industry has evolved around birth tourism to help pregnant women from other countries come to the country to acquire US citizenship for their children by giving birth to US soil.
The federal government is wary of birth tourism due to the potential burden of public resources, criminal activity and national security risks.
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The 14th Amendment states that children born in US soils are automatically granted US citizenship through birthright citizenship.
Presidential Order
On January 20th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship. However, the directive was met with legal challenges and was stopped nationwide by three district courts.
The Trump administration argued that non-citizen children are not “objects of jurisdiction” in the US, but rather the phrase used in the 14th Amendment, and therefore have no right to become American citizens.
The Supreme Court is set to listen to debates over Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions in May.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
