The State Department announced the creation of a task force that targets so-called birth tourism, which aims to prevent people from traveling to the U.S. on tourist visas for the primary purpose of giving birth to secure U.S. citizenship for their children.
According to the State Department, the “Task Force to End Birth Tourism” reviews the activities of U.S. visa holders to monitor for potential activity it deems as “instances of birth tourism,” then revokes visas “of those who engage in or facilitate it.” The task force has already revoked more than 600 visas from foreign nationals, according to a government fact sheet.
The State Department did not disclose how the task force would be reviewing the activity, but said it analyzes information held by the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.
The new task forces come after President Donald Trump signed two executive orders last week aimed at limiting the scope of birthright citizenship, a key objective of his second term.
The first executive order expanded the definition of people the administration says are ineligible for birthright citizenship. The second executive order targeted “birth tourism,” in which foreign nationals travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children automatically receive U.S. citizenship. Trump called birthright citizenship “a disgrace” when signing the new orders.
“As President Trump has made clear, citizenship is not a commodity to be acquired through the calculated exploitation of U.S. immigration laws,” the State Department said in a statement on the task force.
It is already illegal for people to obtain tourist visas “for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.”
The new pair of executive orders is already facing legal challenges. Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union have asked a federal judge to block Trump’s directives targeting “birthright citizenship,” arguing that they are an attempt to evade a Supreme Court ruling on June 30 that rejected Trump’s earlier executive order that sought to restrict birthright citizenship.
The government fact sheet on the newly created birthright tourism task force states that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the “broad discretionary authority” to revoke visas.
Under Rubio, the State Department has also sought to revoke visas of several other groups, including left-wing activists, people who celebrated the death of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk and pro-Palestinian student activists and academics. The American Association of University Professors sued Rubio on March 25, 2025, challenging the administration’s policy of of arresting, detaining and deporting noncitizen students and faculty who participated in pro-Palestinian activism. The case is ongoing on appeal.
The post State Department launches task force to end ‘birth tourism’ appeared first on MS NOW.
