The Trump administration met the Supreme Court’s constitutional enshrinement of birthright citizenship with a vow to crack down on foreign birth tourism schemes.
A statement shared by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday, hours after the court’s decision, said the department will make the prosecution of these schemes a priority across the country. (RELATED: Conservative Group Charts Path Forward To Combat Birthright Citizenship)
The scheme involves expecting women of foreign origin visiting the U.S., where they give birth to what is sometimes referred to as an “anchor baby” due to the child’s automatic citizenship status, which can then be exploited by the child’s family to obtain citizenship or visas.
“Birth tourism schemes exploit our immigration laws and often violate our criminal laws,” the DOJ statement said. “Actors seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children pose a national security threat and will be brought to justice.”
Birth tourism schemes exploit our immigration laws and often violate our criminal laws. The Department of Justice will prioritize the prosecutions of birth tourism schemes across the country. Actors seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children…
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 30, 2026
A recent, yet particularly egregious, case of alleged birth tourism was detailed in an April lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against De’Ai Postpartum Care Center, which Paxton’s office claims has spent the last two decades facilitating the birthing scheme, creating more than 1,000 anchor babies.
Paxton’s office alleges that the operation’s primary clients are Chinese nationals, who are crammed into at least four properties and collectively average the birth of up to 20 babies a day.
But the birth tourism industry extends far past Texas; China-watchers told the New York Post that an estimated 1.5 million babies are being raised in China after having been born through birth tourism with the aid of approximately 1,000 companies designed for this purpose.
A hot spot for the schemes was the U.S. territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, where an Obama-era visa waiver program allowed Chinese nationals to stay on the islands for up to 45 days without a visa, leading companies to charge thousands of dollars to host Chinese families preparing for labor, the Post reported.
The State Department, along with the U.S. Embassy and consulates in China, published a statement in mid-June saying it would end illegal birth tourism schemes by no longer allowing foreigners to obtain visitor visas for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship by giving birth in the U.S.
Under President Trump, the State Department is defending the integrity of U.S. citizenship by ending illegal birth tourism schemes.
No foreigner is permitted to obtain a visitor visa for the primary purpose of acquiring U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the U.S.
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 10, 2026
The announcement came after the State Department allegedly uncovered and shut down birth tourism networks in West Africa, Europe, and North Africa, with each responsible for attempting the scheme using more than 100 babies.
“A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right,” the statement concluded, adding that the department is “taking action around the world to stop this abuse, dismantle birth tourism networks, and hold accountable those who try to scam our system.” (RELATED: Obama Appointed Judge Overturns Trump’s $100K H-1B Visa Fee)
Homeland Security Investigations also made plans to specifically target “fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes” by disrupting “fraud, financial crimes, and organized facilitation networks that exploit lawful immigration processes,” according to an April report by Reuters.
For his part, President Donald Trump, who tried to terminate birthright citizenship via executive order, said the court’s decision denying the change through his order was a “massive Birthright Citizenship WIN!” for President Xi and the country of China, going as far as to congratulate them.
Trump also called on Congress to “start TODAY” to pick up the torch of ending birthright citizenship through legislation, adding that “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”