WASHINGTON – Foreign nationals accused of treating American citizenship like a deluxe travel package are losing their tickets into the United States as the Trump administration launches a worldwide assault on the lucrative birth-tourism industry.
The State Department announced August 12, 2026, that its new Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force has already helped revoke more than 600 visas from foreign nationals suspected of exploiting America’s immigration system to deliver children on U.S. soil.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio say American citizenship must not be treated as a commodity that can be purchased through carefully planned travel, coached visa interviews and deceptive applications.
The new task force is reviewing the activities and travel histories of visa holders around the world to identify suspected birth tourists and the businesses that help them reach American maternity wards.
Investigators are combining information held by the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies to identify suspicious travel patterns, connect individual cases and dismantle organizations profiting from the practice.
The crackdown follows Trump’s recent executive action aimed at tightening visa and admission rules surrounding birth tourism. As NIT previously reported, Trump responded to a Supreme Court setback by issuing new orders targeting birthright-citizenship loopholes and organized birth tourism.
Federal officials say an international industry has developed around helping pregnant foreign nationals reach the United States before giving birth.
Some facilitators allegedly pose as doulas, midwives or wellness advocates while openly advertising American childbirth packages. Their services may include visa coaching, airfare, housing, hospital arrangements and instructions on what applicants should tell U.S. consular officers.
Other operators are accused of forging medical records, helping women conceal their pregnancies or coaching clients to hide the true purpose of their travel. Some reportedly advertise “automatic citizenship” and “a future without borders” while helping customers avoid paying American hospital bills.
The State Department said the task force is pursuing the visa holders as well as the fixers, businesses and organizations accused of facilitating the schemes.
Officials offered several examples of the deception they say consular investigators have uncovered.
In one case, a couple allegedly used a professional conference and a shopping vacation as cover stories while traveling to the United States to deliver two children. On the second trip, the couple allegedly concealed the fact that they already had a child. Their visas were revoked.
A foreign government official obtained a visa for what was represented as a one-week trip on behalf of her government. Instead, she allegedly remained in the United States for three months, gave birth and then departed. Her visa was revoked.
Another traveler claimed she was headed to Orlando for a vacation but instead traveled to Los Angeles and delivered a child five days after entering the country. The State Department revoked her visa.
The government cautioned that it generally may revoke a visa when information indicates that the holder could be ineligible. A visa revocation is an administrative immigration action and does not necessarily mean the individual has been convicted of a crime.
Foreign nationals who deliberately misrepresent their travel purpose or lie during the visa process can face much harsher consequences, including permanent ineligibility for another visa or admission to the United States.
The latest action builds upon investigations already underway at American embassies overseas.
One operation in West Africa allegedly involved more than 100 foreign nationals. Investigators in Europe identified more than 400 suspected cases connected to at least six companies, while an embassy in North Africa revoked more than 100 visas associated with suspected birth tourism.
The birth-tourism crackdown is related to—but legally distinct from—the broader battle over birthright citizenship.
Giving birth in the United States is not itself a crime. The immediate enforcement issue is whether a foreign national lied, concealed material information or improperly used a nonimmigrant visa primarily to secure American citizenship for a child.
Under the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, most children born on American soil receive citizenship at birth regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Trump has challenged that interpretation and sought to narrow the circumstances under which citizenship is automatically granted.
That constitutional fight remains in the courts. In July, NIT reported that the Supreme Court handed Trump a setback in the birthright-citizenship battle, although Vice President JD Vance said the fight was far from finished.
The visa task force allows the administration to attack suspected fraud and organized birth-tourism businesses without waiting for a final Supreme Court decision on the meaning of the 14th Amendment.
Secretary Rubio possesses broad discretionary authority to revoke visas. The administration said it intends to use that power against foreign nationals who abuse the immigration system and the people who profit by helping them do it.
The State Department described the 600 visa revocations as only the beginning.