DOJ Vows Crackdown on Birth Tourism After Supreme Court Birthright Citizenship Ruling
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it will intensify efforts against so-called “birth tourism” operations after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump‘s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants and foreign visitors.
Assistant Attorney General for Fraud Enforcement Colin McDonald directed federal prosecutors to aggressively pursue individuals and organizations that exploit America’s immigration system by entering the country under false pretenses in order to give birth on US soil.
“The criminal laws of the United States already prohibit conduct inherent to so many of these so-called ‘birth tourism’ schemes,” McDonald wrote in a memo to Justice Department employees.
He noted that many of these operations begin with fraudulent visa applications in which travelers misrepresent the purpose or duration of their stay in the United States.
The Justice Department highlighted several recent prosecutions as examples of the type of activity it plans to target more aggressively moving forward.
In one case, Michael Wei Yueh Liu and Jing Dong were sentenced to more than three years in prison after operating a California-based business called “USA Happy Baby,” which catered primarily to Chinese nationals seeking American citizenship for their children.
According to prosecutors, the company charged clients tens of thousands of dollars and helped them fraudulently obtain visas to enter the country.
The department also cited the case of Ibrahim Aksakal, who was convicted in 2022 for operating a New York-based birth tourism network that allegedly instructed pregnant women on how to conceal their pregnancies while traveling to the United States.
Another case involved Chao “Edwin” Chen, whose company reportedly helped more than 500 foreign clients travel to America to give birth, charging as much as $80,000 per customer.
Federal officials estimate that birth tourism has become a significant industry, although the government does not formally track the number of births connected to the practice.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates roughly 26,000 children are born in the United States each year to women traveling specifically for that purpose, while the Center for Immigration Studies places the figure closer to 33,000 births annually involving tourist visas alone.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described birth tourism as a “booming industry” and said the administration intends to put a stop to it.
“Everybody should agree that it’s a violation of our laws if your intent in coming here, if you’re pregnant, is to have a child that’s a United States citizen,” Blanche said.
“We’re focused on stopping that, and that’s what we’re going to do.”