By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-08-21 17:16:47 | Updated at 2026-08-21 17:31:23
18 minutes ago
The U.S. Department of State on Aug. 20 said that nearly 900 visas have been revoked since a birth tourism task force was created in early August.
Birth tourism refers to a foreign national traveling to another country to give birth there in a bid to allow the child to gain citizenship of that country. The Trump administration attempted to end birthright citizenship through an executive order last year, which was challenged in court and later blocked by multiple judges.
Describing birth tourism as “an insidious practice,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told Newsmax’s National Report that officials are “seeing this be a global phenomenon, and we’re seeing these networks that are profiting, trying to essentially sell U.S. citizenship.”
He said this includes “by advertising a world they say is without borders or automatic citizenship, disguising themselves as healthcare services when in reality it is the insidious practice with birth tourism, and then on top of defrauding consular offices to get that visa, they then coach these people to defraud the American people when they’re here, and leave taxpayers footing the bill for their medical expenses.”
Announcing the Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force earlier in August, the Department of State said that it would use all its resources to “defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship, ensure nonimmigrant visas are used only for their lawful and intended purposes, and prevent their exploitation through birth tourism.”
“When that task force was announced, the secretary (Marco Rubio) noted that we had revoked over 600 visas,” Pigott added during Thursday’s interview. “I can now say that we are at nearly 900 visas revoked since this task force was launched.”
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to invalidate the executive order, meaning that children of illegal immigrants and temporary visitors, sometimes called “anchor babies,” would be granted American citizenship if they are born in the United States.
In Trump v. Barbara, the court ruled that Executive Order 14160, which said the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause was never intended to bestow citizenship universally on everyone born in the United States, violated the 14th Amendment itself. The order, which was tied up in the lower courts, was intended to discourage birth tourism and prevent so-called anchor babies from claiming birthright citizenship.
The clause states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
In a 6-3 decision, the court affirmed the principle of “jus soli,” or the idea that someone becomes a U.S. citizen by virtue of being born on American soil.
The Trump administration had argued that newborns’ parents should have some form of allegiance to the United States, such as permanent residence or domicile. Domicile is a legal concept referring to the place a person resides in and treats as his or her permanent home.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reacted to the ruling by pledging at the time to prioritize investigations of birth tourism schemes.
The State Department said in an Aug. 12 statement that it has “uncovered patterns that illustrate the lengths some applicants will go to circumvent our laws in order to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.”
The State Department building in Washington on July 27, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“One couple used a conference and a vacation trip to go shopping as cover stories to give birth to two children in the United States, lying about their travel purpose in two separate visa applications,” the department said, providing an example of what it described as an alleged birth tourism scheme. “On the second occasion, the couple concealed that they had a child.”
A foreign government official, in another example, requested a visa to travel on behalf of their government to the United States for a week, according to the department. The official allegedly stayed in the United States for three months and gave birth before leaving the country.
Another person applied for a visa to vacation in Orlando, Florida, but instead went to Los Angeles to give birth, the agency said.
The couple’s visas and the foreign official’s visa were revoked, as was the visa of the foreign national who allegedly went to Los Angeles to give birth, it said.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
