WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration issued new visa rules Thursday clamping down on so-called birth tourism, the practice by which some pregnant foreign women travel to the U.S. to give birth to win automatic citizenship for their newborns.
Starting Friday, U.S. consular officers overseas will deny visas to applicants whose sole purpose for traveling to the U.S. is to give birth, the State Department said. The move is aimed at addressing national security and law enforcement risks associated with birth tourism and the groups that help arrange the trips, the government said.
"The birth tourism industry threatens to overburden valuable hospital resources and is rife with criminal activity, as reflected in federal prosecutions," White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. "Closing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice."
The move is part of a broader range of actions taken by the Trump administration to restrict inflows of immigrants and refugees. The U.S. already bars or limits entry by people from five Muslim-majority nations _ Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The ban also blocks people from North Korea and some Venezuelan officials. President Donald Trump is considering adding at least seven more countries to the list.
The State Department's new rule targets so-called B non-immigrant visas, which cover temporary travel to the U.S. for business or pleasure. It also seeks to tighten rules on medical tourism by demanding that applicants show they'll be able to pay for the treatment.
