US in crackdown against birth tourism

Jun 05, 2025 News

Kaieteur News – The United States Embassy here warned on Wednesday that using one’s visa to travel for the primary purpose of giving birth in that country is not permitted, and consular officers will deny visas to those persons they suspect to be engaged in such a scheme.

In a Facebook statement, the embassy said, “Consular officers will deny your visa application if they have reason to believe this is your intent.” Furthermore, “If you already have a visa and travel to the United States for the primary purpose of giving birth, and you use Medicaid or other U.S. Government assistance to pay for your medical care, you may not be eligible to renew your visa in the future,” the embassy said.

Only last month, the U.S. Department of State reminded non-citizens that it was unacceptable for foreign parents to use a U.S. tourist visa for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain citizenship for the child. The department said such a move could result in American taxpayers paying the medical care costs.

“This is known as birth tourism and U.S. consular officers deny all such visa applications under U.S. immigration law. Those who abuse our immigration system through birth tourism may be ineligible for future visas or travel to the United States. This is one more way the U.S. Department of State is serving and protecting American taxpayers and communities,” the department emphasised.

Back in January 2020, the US Department of State had unveiled the new rules to deter pregnant women from travelling to the US to give birth. The policy is intended as a crackdown on what is known as “birth tourism”. Under the rule, pregnant women applying for US visitor visas may need to prove they have a specific reason for travel other than giving birth on US soil, the BBC had reported.

Nearly all children born in the US get automatic citizenship – a law US President Donald Trump has criticised. In his first term, he had said that the policy was necessary to safeguard US national security and public health. Mr. Trump has sought to limit immigration to the US and has previously questioned the US constitutional amendment that grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalised in the United States”.

Conservatives have long decried so-called anchor babies, born in the US to parents who are seeking to live in America. The practice of obtaining a visa to the US on the basis of having other US relatives is known as “chain migration, or family reunification”, a policy that has also been criticised by Mr Trump. Under the current rule, consular officials are empowered to deny a visa to any individual whose “primary purpose” in obtaining such documentation is to give birth there. The Department of State had said previously that the “birth tourism industry is also rife with criminal activity, including international criminal schemes.”

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birth tourism, deny visa application, Medicaid, United States Embassy

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