by Marsha Blackburn
As Americans, few things are more sacred than our citizenship. It’s what empowers us to defend our freedoms, choose our elected representatives, and serve our nation. It’s what delineates our rights and responsibilities as Americans. And it’s what makes us We the People. Yet for years, one industry has undermined this cherished institution: birth tourism.
Each year, tens of thousands of foreign visitors give birth in our country with the intention of securing U.S. citizenship for their children. These tourists—often wealthy nationals from China and Russia—typically return to their home countries as soon as they receive their child’s U.S. passport. Many return to America multiple times to repeat this process. Behind this appalling practice is a multimillion-dollar industry that coaches clients on how to exploit our nation’s immigration laws.
During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department charged 19 people for operating three birth tourism schemes in Southern California that brought thousands of Chinese nationals to America. The operators instructed clients on how to apply for visitor visas, how to deceive U.S. customs officials about the purpose of their stay, and where to seek medical care. They also purchased flights and arranged housing while charging clients tens of thousands of dollars. Among their customers were Chinese government officials, including individuals affiliated with state-owned radio stations and the Public Security Bureau in the Beijing Municipal Government.
In a separate scheme, a company with branches in Miami and Russia charged clients up to $49,000 to help them travel to our country to obtain citizenship for their newborns. On its website, the company boasted of serving “the wives of dignitaries, oligarchs, and celebrities.” It even advised customers how to gain permanent residency through their newborn’s citizenship. Just last week, Governor Greg Abbott also launched an investigation into a Texas hospital that advertised childbirth packages in Mexico with the tagline “Have My Baby in Texas.”
By exploiting our nation’s immigration laws, this industry helps clients obtain all the blessings of American citizenship with none of its responsibilities. To become a naturalized U.S. citizen, you must maintain continuous residence for five years, display good moral character, demonstrate an attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, display proficiency in English, show a firm grasp of American history, and take an oath of allegiance to the United States. The children of birth tourists avoid all of these vital requirements—yet they can vote in our elections, serve in public office, and come and go as they please.
U.S. citizenship should never be for sale—which is why President Trump issued an executive order last year that prohibited the newborn children of foreign visitors from obtaining U.S. citizenship. In a disappointing ruling this month, however, the Supreme Court struck down the order, allowing this horrible practice to continue.
In response, the Trump administration has vowed to use every legal avenue available to end birth tourism in America. Congress should do everything in its power to support this effort, which is why this week I will be reintroducing my Ban Birth Tourism Act. This bill would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to ban birth tourism as a permissible basis for obtaining a temporary visitor visa to gain admission to our country. It would also add birth tourism to the list of deportable offenses under the INA. These measures would provide the Trump administration with additional tools to crack down on birth tourism and help ensure that future Democrat administrations cannot lay out the welcome mat for foreign visitors hoping to exploit our laws.
American citizenship is a blessing. To those who have it, it means you are part of the greatest people in the greatest country in the history of the world. It must never be for sale—which is why Republicans will do everything in our power to protect it.
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Republican Marsha Blackburn represents Tennessee in the United States Senate. After serving eight terms in the US House of Representatives, she was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018. Blackburn is currently running for governor of Tennessee.
