by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Worthy News) – The State Department has launched a new task force targeting “birth tourism” networks accused of exploiting U.S. immigration laws to secure American citizenship for children born to foreign nationals visiting the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the task force, established last month, has already resulted in the revocation of more than 600 visas after officials reviewed visa holders suspected of participating in birth tourism operations.
Rubio said organized networks have been coaching foreign nationals on how to circumvent U.S. visa requirements while arranging travel, housing and, in some cases, fraudulent documentation designed to facilitate births inside the United States.
“The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of U.S. citizenship,” Rubio said.
Under longstanding State Department rules, consular officers may deny B-class visitor visas when they determine that an applicant’s primary purpose for traveling to the United States is to give birth in order to obtain U.S. citizenship for the child. The restriction was formally strengthened in 2020.
The department said the newly established task force will review visa holders, identify facilitators and revoke visas connected to schemes designed to exploit the system.
“Citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through calculated exploitation and evasion of the immigration laws,” the State Department said, warning that foreign nationals who abuse the visa system — along with those who help them — could lose their visas and future access to the United States.
The crackdown comes as the Trump administration continues its broader effort to tighten enforcement surrounding birthright citizenship and immigration fraud.
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