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Lucy Quaggin

Hours before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in the US for a high-stakes summit, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to restrict visas for those who “engage in or facilitate” birth tourism, a practice the Trump administration has increasingly accused China of.
“By restricting visa issuance of those who both engage in and profit from this fraud, we are sending a clear message: the United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of US citizenship,” Rubio said in a statement on Wednesday.
China has been a central focus of Washington’s efforts to crack down on birth tourism, with officials often targeting large-scale operations that cater to Chinese clients.
“The demand for US citizenship for the children of Chinese nationals has led to unscrupulous companies assisting these individuals for profit,” said Republican congressman Chip Roy of Texas at a hearing earlier this month.


Public discussion often casts birth tourism as particularly widespread among wealthy Asians, a Pennsylvania State University report said, adding that “the majority of birth tourists are Hispanic mothers”.
While there is no federal dataset that measures the practice, available estimates indicate that birth tourism accounts for a small share of births in the US.
In any year between 2014 and 2024, birth tourism accounted for fewer than 0.3 per cent of all US births, Penn State researchers estimated.
“Annual birth tourism, measured as a foreign-born mother giving birth in the US to a child that does not remain a US resident, even at its height in 2015, represented fewer than 0.3 per cent of all US births,” according to the research brief.
Despite such estimates, the administration has ramped up its attempts to curb the practice of birth tourism, following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 30 to block US President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict constitutional birthright citizenship.
The new visa restrictions, which came just hours ahead of Xi’s state visit to Washington for a summit with Trump, target individuals who have knowingly engaged in or facilitated the practice in the US.




This includes those who coach applicants to commit fraud, known as “visa fixers” and those “who support, abet and enable commercial birth tourism”.
“These networks advertise and coach foreign nationals to lie on US visa applications and collect tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births on American soil for the sole purpose of obtaining US citizenship,” Rubio said.
The State Department on Wednesday also launched an online tip portal, calling for members of the public to help identify and stop suspected US visa fraud and misuse.
In August, the Trump administration announced the establishment of a task force to end birth tourism – one of a string of moves aimed at curtailing the practice after the Supreme Court decision.
“I would like to congratulate President Xi, and the Great Country of China, on their massive Birthright Citizenship WIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” the US president wrote on social media after the verdict.
Trump also signed two executive orders in early August seeking to curb birth tourism and respond to the Supreme Court ruling.
One of the new orders directed officials to strengthen visa screening, investigate suspected birth-tourism operations and consider legal action against businesses facilitating the practice.


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China has been a central focus of Washington’s efforts to crack down on the practice, with large-scale operations targeted


China has been a central focus of Washington’s efforts to crack down on the practice, with large-scale operations targeted.


US restricts visas for birth tourism ahead of Xi Jinping’s summit with Trump

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China has been a central focus of Washington’s efforts to crack down on the practice, with large-scale operations targeted

China has been a central focus of Washington’s efforts to crack down on the practice, with large-scale operations targeted