US Imposes Visa Rules For Pregnant Women On ‘Birth Tourism’

11
FILE - In this Sept. 2017 file photo, a flag is waved outside the White House, in Washington. The Trump administration is coming out with new visa restrictions aimed at restricting a practice known as “birth tourism." That refers to cases when women travel to the United States to give birth so their children can have U.S. citizenship. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday published new visa rules aimed at restricting “birth tourism,” in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children can have a coveted U.S. passport.

Join our WhatsApp group

Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


Applicants will be denied tourist visas if they are determined by consular officers to be coming to the U.S. primarily to give birth, according to the rules in the Federal Register. It is a bigger hurdle to overcome, proving they are traveling to the U.S. because they have a medical need and not just because they want to give birth here. Those with medical needs will be treated like other foreigners coming to the U.S. for medical treatment and must prove they have the money to pay for it — including transportation and living expenses.

The practice of traveling to the U.S. to give birth is fundamentally legal, although there are scattered cases of authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies for visa fraud or tax evasion. And women are often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even show signed contracts with doctors and hospitals.

The State Department “does not believe that visiting the United States for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child, by giving birth in the United States — an activity commonly referred to as ‘birth tourism’ — is a legitimate activity for pleasure or of a recreational nature,” according to the new rules, which take effect Friday.

President Donald Trump’s administration has been restricting all forms of immigration, but Trump has been particularly plagued by the issue of birthright citizenship — anyone born in the U.S. is considered a citizen, under the Constitution. The Republican president has railed against the practice and threatened to end it, but scholars and members of his administration have said it’s not so easy to do.

Regulating tourist visas for pregnant women is one way to get at the issue, but it raises questions about how officers would determine whether a woman is pregnant to begin with and whether a woman could get turned away by border officers who suspect she may be just by looking at her.

Consular officers don’t have the right to ask during visa interviews whether a woman is pregnant or intends to become so. But they would still have to determine whether a visa applicant would be coming to the U.S. primarily to give birth.

Birth tourism is a lucrative business in both the U.S. and abroad. Companies take out advertisements and charge up to $80,000 to facilitate the practice, offering hotel rooms and medical care. Many of the women travel from Russia and China to give birth in the U.S.

The U.S. has been cracking down on the practice since before Trump took office.

“An entire ‘birth tourism’ industry has evolved to assist pregnant women from other countries to come to the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their children by giving birth in the United States, and thereby entitle their children to the benefits of U.S. citizenship,” according to the State Department rules.

There are no figures on how many foreign women travel to the U.S. specifically to give birth. The Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for stricter immigration laws, estimated that in 2012 about 36,000 foreign-born women gave birth in the U.S. and then left the country.

“This rule will help eliminate the criminal activity associated with the birth tourism industry,” according to the rules. “The recent federal indictments describe birth tourism schemes in which foreign nationals applied for visitor visas to come to the United States and lied to consular officers about the duration of their trips, where they would stay, and their purpose of travel.”


Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


Connect with VINnews

Join our WhatsApp group


11 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Educated Archy
Educated Archy
4 years ago

Seems like a sensible rule to me.

People coming here to give birth cost us lots of money. Education and social services for poor children born here to immigrant parents are costly. We cannot afford it. And people come knowing they can milk the system.
Technically it would be best to target only poor immigrants but you probably can’t do that.

Re the Constitution argument. That’s a silly one. Its being exploited and the founding fathers were not saints. It was never intended to reflect the modern day era when one can fly in via an airplane and just have a kid here. It was meant to protect those who spent months traveling over seas via boat. Furthermore, it was pre govt and social programs which cost us money.

PaulinSaudi
PaulinSaudi
4 years ago

I do not understand what problem this very intrusive law is trying to fix. If some rich lady wants to come to the United States for health care, why should the government want to endanger her?

jewish1st
jewish1st
4 years ago

inherently most are breaking the law because they stay past their VISA date are are thus illegal
many hide there late term pregnancy and travel when it no longer safe

Nachum
Nachum
4 years ago

We should blame the idiotic bureaucrats in our State Dept.stationed overseas, who give out visas without adequate screening.

PaulinSaudi
PaulinSaudi
4 years ago

We let your poor grandparents into the United States. That seems to have worked out pretty well.

People who can fly to the US to give birth safely are much better off that your ancestors were. I am sure this will work out too.

Jewish mother
Jewish mother
4 years ago

Will this law address the tens of thousands of wealthy white Europeans who come to the US to give birth? They have no intention of living in the US. They are only coming so that their children will someday be able to travel freely to the US.