Trump Administration Targets ‘Birth Tourism’ Networks

The administration of Donald Trump is preparing to intensify enforcement against networks that allegedly help pregnant women misrepresent information on visa applications in order to secure U.S. citizenship for children born in the country.

According to an internal email reviewed by Reuters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement instructed investigative agents nationwide to focus on a new “Birth Tourism Initiative” aimed at identifying and exposing fraud.

The agency stated that it is expanding efforts to protect the integrity of U.S. immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities linked to organized birth tourism schemes. Authorities say the initiative will focus on dismantling networks involved in financial crimes and abuse of legal immigration processes.

Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has taken a more aggressive approach to both legal and illegal immigration. His administration has repeatedly pointed to birth tourism as a concern, using it as part of broader efforts to challenge the long-standing practice of granting automatic citizenship to children born on U.S. soil.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said that widespread birth tourism places a financial burden on taxpayers and raises national security concerns, noting that most countries do not grant citizenship by birth.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on specific investigations but emphasized that while giving birth in the United States is not illegal, authorities remain focused on identifying potential violations of federal law tied to these activities.

There is no U.S. law that explicitly bans birth tourism. However, a federal regulation introduced in 2020 restricts the use of tourist and business visas when the primary purpose of travel is to obtain U.S. citizenship for a newborn. Individuals involved in such schemes may face charges related to fraud or other offenses.

There are no official figures on how many foreign nationals travel to the United States specifically for this purpose. A 2020 estimate from the Center for Immigration Studies suggested that between 20,000 and 25,000 women engaged in birth tourism annually between 2016 and 2017.

By comparison, the United States recorded approximately 3.6 million births in 2025, indicating that birth tourism likely represents a small portion of total births.

On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children born in the U.S. if neither parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The move represents a significant departure from more than a century of legal precedent.

Multiple federal judges have blocked the order, sending the issue to the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. During recent arguments, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that birthright citizenship has contributed to the growth of a “birth tourism industry,” encouraging foreign nationals to travel to the U.S. for childbirth without meaningful ties to the country.