Marco Rubio Announces ‘Birth Tourism’ Crackdown

Since 2020, State Department rules have directed consular officers to deny visitor visas when the primary purpose appears to be giving birth for citizenship.

The new task force expands that approach with retrospective reviews, visa revocations, and coordination with the Department of Homeland Security.

Rubio’s background adds weight to the message.

Born in 1971 to Cuban immigrant parents who later naturalized, he has long been recognized as a natural-born citizen under the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent.

His leadership now targets the commercial abuse of that same principle by foreign profit-seeking networks.

Migration Policy Institute Associate Policy Analyst Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh told Newsweek: “Birth tourism represents a conundrum for policymakers.

Giving birth on U.S. territory is not inherently illegal, but coming to the U.S. intentionally to give birth and the actions of the companies that Rubio describes, like visa fraud, are crimes.”

She added: “The phrase ‘birth tourist’ is used to describe someone who comes to the U.S. for the sole purpose of giving birth, resulting in U.S. citizenship for that child, a different scenario than Rubio’s birth or births in the U.S. to unauthorized parents, though all fall under the umbrella of birthright citizenship.”

Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, praised the focus on enforcement.

“Birth tourism undermines the integrity of birthright citizenship as asylum shopping undermines our humanitarian programs,” Beck told Newsweek.