New rules to deny visas to women coming in order to deliver babies
Some pregnant foreign women pay as much as $100,000 to be ferried into the U.S. on a visitorâs visa, arriving in time to give birth on American soil and instantly make their baby a citizen.
The Trump administration on Thursday announced a policy designed to put an end to that kind of âbirth tourism.â
Under rules taking effect Friday, State Department consular officials will now be able to refuse to grant short-term tourism or business visas to women they believe are attempting to travel solely for the purpose of having their womb on U.S. soil at the time they deliver.
The department called birth tourism âa threat to the security of the United States,â and the White House said the very integrity of U.S. citizenship is at stake if people are able to trick their way into obtaining legal status and its benefits for their newborns.
âThe birth tourism industry threatens to overburden valuable hospital resources and is rife with criminal activity,â said presidential press secretary Stephanie Grisham. âClosing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice.â
Only women believed to be traveling specifically to give birth on tourist visas will be denied.
Women seeking visas for other purposes but who are still likely to give birth will continue to be eligible for approval, Carl C. Risch, assistant secretary at the State Department, said in the governmentâs filing in the Federal Register. Women coming to the U.S. for specialized medical care for their pregnancies will be able to argue the merits of their cases, he said.