The US State Department on Thursday published a new rule aimed at denying tourist visas to pregnant women if consular officials believe the primary purpose of their visit is to give birth in the United States.
The Donald Trump administration said it is seeking to end “birth tourism”, which is the practice of pregnant foreign women visiting the US to give birth so that their babies can acquire American citizenship.
Under the new rule, consular officials at the embassy will have authority to deny a B non-immigrant visitor visa to an applicant if they believe their “primary purpose” is to give birth in the US.
“If a consular officer has reason to believe a B non-immigrant visa applicant will give birth in the United States, the applicant is presumed to be seeking a visa for the primary purpose of obtaining US citizenship for the child,” the rule reads in part.
According to the rule, in order to get a visa, the applicant must establish, to the satisfaction of a consular officer, a legitimate primary purpose other than obtaining US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States.
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Thursday issued a statement saying that the new rule closes an immigration loophole that creates burden on hospital resources, adding that it “will also defend American taxpayers from having their hard-earned dollars siphoned away to finance the direct and downstream costs associated with birth tourism.”
The State Department however clarified that it will continue issuing visitor visas to pregnant women whose travel purpose is to seek medical treatment in the US.
The applicant will also need to provide to the consular officer that a medical practitioner or medical facility in the US has agreed to offer such treatment.
The Associated Press last year reported that most of the “birth tourists” are women from China, Russia and Nigeria.
President Trump has long expressed his opposition to birthright citizenship, which grants citizenship to all persons born in the United States.
In 2018, he threatened to end, through an executive order, automatic citizenship to babies born in the US to non-citizens.
“So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other,” President Trump twitted in 2018.
So-called Birthright Citizenship, which costs our Country billions of dollars and is very unfair to our citizens, will be ended one way or the other. It is not covered by the 14th Amendment because of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Many legal scholars agree…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2018
Legal scholars have however said the president does not have authority to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed in the 14th amendment of the US constitution.
“It’s ridiculous. And it has to end,” said Trump of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that grants U.S. citizenship to those born on U.S. soil.
The new rule becomes effective on Friday, January 24, when it is published in the Federal Register.
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