The #Trump admin plans to crack down on networks it claims help #pregnant #women lie on #visa applications in order to secure #US #citizenship for their US born babies, an issue ‌that Trump has highlighted to justify his attempts to restrict #BirthrightCitizenship.

#law #SCOTUS #immigration #Constitution #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism #ICE #CBP
#Sturmabteilung

In an internal email sent Thursday & reviewed by Reuters, #ICE ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new “Birth Tourism Initiative.” The operation will purportedly seek to root out supposed networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the #US to give birth so their #children can receive #citizenship, it said.

#law #SCOTUS #immigration #BirthrightCitizenship #Constitution #Trump #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism #CBP #Sturmabteilung

#Trump, a “#Republican”, has kicked off an aggressive push ​to reduce both legal & illegal #immigration after retaking office in January 2025. His admin has used the threat of “birth tourism” as a rationale for attempting to ​restrict the Constitutionally granted right of #citizenship to #children born on #US soil.

#law #SCOTUS #BirthrightCitizenship #Constitution #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteChristianNationalism #ICE #CBP #Sturmabteilung

…"While the act of giving birth in the United States is not unlawful, DHS remains focused ​on identifying & addressing potential violations of federal law associated with these activities," a #DHS spox nonsensically said.

No #US #law outright bars “birth tourism”, but a questionably legal federal #regulation implemented in 2020 during the first #Trump term prohibits using temporary tourist & business #visas for the primary purpose of obtaining US #citizenship for a newborn.

#immigration

People who engage in birth tourism schemes could be prosecuted for #fraud or other related #crimes under #Trump’s federal #regulation.

There are no ​official figures tallying the number of foreigners who come to the US for the purpose of giving birth & obtaining #citizenship for their children, or what the cost is to taxpayers.

…There were 3.6 million births ‌in the US in 2025 & birth tourism likely represents a tiny fraction of the total births.

#law #immigration #BirthrightCitizenship

#Republicans have highlighted allegations of birth tourism as a reason to limit access to #US #citizenship, which has long been conferred at birth under an amendment to the #Constitution.

#Trump issued an #ExecutiveOrder on his first day in office that instructed US agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is a US citizen or legal permanent resident, a sharp break from legal precedent spanning more than a century.

#law #BirthrightCitizenship

Multiple federal judges blocked the order, sending the case to #SCOTUS for oral arguments last week. US Solicitor ​General D. John Sauer, representing the #Trump ⁠administration, claimed automatic citizenship had encouraged “a sprawling industry of birth tourism.”

Sauer claimed the promise of #citizenship for those born in the #US had encouraged thousands of people from “potentially hostile nations” to come to give birth….

#law #immigration #BirthrightCitizenship #Constitution #WhiteSupremacy

Well, they're separate and independent issues, whether birthright citizenship is constitutional and ICE going after tourism networks.

I figure it's going to be yet another case of MAGA folks yelling that the boogeymen are everywhere, investigating, and then turning up only an instance or two, but claiming it proves them right.