Marco Rubio Announces ‘Birth Tourism’ Crackdown

“Like most countries, the United States grants automatic citizenship to the U.S.-born children of American citizens and legal permanent residents. But the U.S. and Canada are the only two developed economies to extend that to the children of tourists,” Beck added.

Beck noted the challenge after a recent Supreme Court ruling affirming birthright citizenship for children of those unlawfully or temporarily present: “Since 2020, it has been U.S. policy to deny visitor visas to travelers whose primary purpose is giving birth in the United States, but the Supreme Court ruling means anyone who can successfully lie to an immigration agent must be rewarded with a U.S.-citizen child. That makes it all the more important to stop birth tourism before entry.”

He called for Congress to act: “The Obama Administration focused enforcement almost exclusively on maternity hotels like You Win that coached clients on how to commit fraud, while the Trump Administration gave more leeway to consular officers abroad in 2020 to disrupt birth tourism. The Biden Administration left that Trump policy in place. But Congress needs to codify the rules and explicitly make tourists inadmissible if their intent is to have a baby for citizenship purposes. S. 5023 by Senator Marsha Blackburn and H.R. 9919 by Representative Rich McCormick would do that.”

The State Department has not released details on specific countries or organizations targeted. Rubio made clear the effort is just getting started.

“The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship,” he said.

In an era when immigration enforcement remains a top priority, Rubio’s action sends a strong signal that American citizenship will not be treated as a product for sale by overseas operators.