Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the State Department will restrict visas for people who “engage in or facilitate” birth tourism, a policy unveiled just hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in the United States for a state visit.
The restrictions apply to foreigners who “knowingly engage in, have engaged in, or facilitate birth tourism,” according to a statement from Rubio obtained by Fox News Digital. That includes non-citizens working in the birth tourism industry, so-called fixers who coach visa applicants on how to commit fraud, and others who “support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism.”
“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,” Rubio said.
Birth tourism refers to the practice of traveling to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth so the child obtains U.S. citizenship. China has long been a focus of federal efforts to combat the practice, with the Justice Department pursuing cases against large-scale operations catering mostly to Chinese clients. Chinese nationals have traveled to clinics on the West Coast and to Saipan, part of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, to give birth.
Texas Republican Rep. Brandon Gill, who chairs a House Oversight task force investigating birth tourism, has also flagged China and Russia in raising concerns about the practice.
Analysts note China could also benefit from a drop in birth tourism as it grapples with a steep demographic decline; young people leaving for the United States is a process made considerably easier if they already hold citizenship, potentially deepening the country’s population troubles.
Cracking down on birth tourism has been a cornerstone of the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, alongside an unsuccessful push to overturn birthright citizenship. After the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s initial attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship, President Trump issued two follow-up executive orders — one denying citizenship to children born to members of designated terrorist organizations, and another directing the State Department to deny travel visas to, or pursue removal actions against, individuals believed to be in the country for birth tourism purposes.
“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.
Xi arrived Wednesday evening for a tense White House summit with Trump covering artificial intelligence, tariffs, rare earth minerals and fentanyl exports.
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