Chicago – April 10, 2026
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a new “Birth Tourism Initiative” aimed at uncovering networks accused of helping pregnant foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth so their children can claim citizenship. The effort, detailed in an internal email reviewed by Reuters, directs agents nationwide to focus on alleged fraud, financial crimes and organized facilitation networks.
The move comes as President Donald Trump’s administration intensifies its push to restrict birthright citizenship, a policy the White House says is being exploited by abuse of the visa system. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said unrestricted birth tourism imposes costs on taxpayers and raises national security concerns.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division is leading the initiative, but the agency has not said how many cases it expects to find. Reuters noted there are no official U.S. statistics on how many people travel specifically for birth tourism, though previous estimates have suggested the practice exists on a significant scale.
While the United States does not have a law explicitly banning birth tourism, a 2020 regulation bars the use of tourist and business visas primarily for giving birth in the U.S. to obtain citizenship for a child.
