Has the Trump administration sought to limit ‘birth tourism’?

A rule that took effect in January 2020 denies pregnant visa applicants a temporary visitor visa unless they can prove they have the funds to pay hospital bills or need to give birth in the U.S. for medical reasons.

The Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. “Birth tourism,” the practice of foreign women traveling to the U.S. to secure citizenship for their children, isn't illegal. Critics argue that the practice strains hospital resources and wastes taxpayer money, and that birth tourism agencies engage in visa fraud and tax evasion. In a recent high-profile case, six people were charged with Medicaid fraud in a Turkish birth-tourism ring operating on Long Island.

The Center for Immigration Studies, which generally advocates for lower immigration levels, estimates that “20,000 to 26,000 birth tourists have children in the United States each year.”