The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a new ‘Birth Tourism Initiative’ aimed at identifying and dismantling networks that allegedly help pregnant foreign women travel to the United States to give birth so their children can obtain US citizenship.
An internal email, reported by Reuters, shows that agents nationwide have been instructed to prioritise cases involving fraud, financial crimes, and organised facilitation networks. The email stated, “HSI is advancing efforts to protect the integrity of US immigration and identification systems, specifically targeting fraudulent activities associated with birth tourism schemes.” Authorities say the focus is not on childbirth itself but on illegal activity linked to visa misuse or deception.
Giving birth in the US is not illegal
Officials have clearly stated that birth itself is lawful. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, “the act of giving birth in the United States is not unlawful.” However, the agency added that it is monitoring related violations, “DHS remains focused on identifying and addressing potential violations of federal law associated with these activities.” Current US law does not ban birth tourism outright. A 2020 rule restricts the use of tourist visas if the primary purpose is to give birth in the U.S. for citizenship, meaning enforcement is largely tied to fraud or misrepresentation.
Birth tourism numbers remain small
There are no official government figures tracking how many people travel to the US specifically for childbirth. However, estimates suggest the scale is relatively limited. The Center for Immigration Studies estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 women came to the US for birth tourism annually between 2016 and 2017. By comparison, the US recorded around 3.6 million births in 2025, indicating that birth tourism represents only a small fraction of total births.
Trump administration links issue to citizenship debate
The initiative is part of Donald Trump trying to curb immigration and challenge birthright citizenship. Trump has argued that birth tourism creates costs for taxpayers and raises national security concerns. His administration has used the issue to support efforts to limit automatic citizenship granted to children born on US soil.
He also signed an executive order seeking to deny citizenship to children born in the US to non-citizen parents which is a major shift from long-standing legal precedent. That order has been blocked by federal courts and is now being reviewed by the US Supreme Court. During court arguments, Solicitor General John Sauer claimed birthright citizenship had encouraged “a sprawling industry of birth tourism.”
Past cases
Authorities have previously prosecuted cases linked to birth tourism where fraud was involved. In one 2019 case in Southern California, more than a dozen individuals were charged for operating “birth houses” catering to wealthy Chinese clients. One defendant, Dongyuan Li, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, while another, Chao “Edwin” Chen, received a three-year sentence but fled the U.S. These cases are often cited by officials to justify stricter enforcement efforts targeting organized networks rather than individuals.
