(The Center Square) - The State Department has launched additional initiatives to combat birth tourism and visa fraud.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has launched a new visa restriction policy targeting everyone who knowingly engages in or has engaged in facilitating birth tourism to the U.S.
“We are sending a clear message: The United States will not allow foreigners to exploit our immigration system and violate the sanctity of U.S. citizenship,” Rubio said.
The restriction is being implemented under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
It applies to “owners, operators and managers of commercial birth tourism facilitation networks, visa 'fixers' who coach applicants to commit fraud, foreign medical providers who knowingly abet and facilitate such travel and the fraudulent use of our Medicaid system, and other individuals who support, abet, and enable commercial birth tourism,” Rubio’s directive states. It also may apply to offenders’ family members.
Birth tourism refers to individuals and organizations that advertise to entice foreign nationals to travel to the United States to give birth so their child can obtain U.S. citizenship. The enticements promise citizenship, access to public benefits, short-term stays in specialized facilities, hotels or rentals, and involve visa and other immigration fraud, authorities have found.
“Foreign commercial birth tourism networks have exploited the U.S. immigration system to sell U.S. citizenship for profit,” the State Department said. “These networks advertise and coach foreign nationals to lie on U.S. visa applications and collect tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births on American soil for the sole purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship.”
Rubio’s announcement comes six weeks after the State Department launched a new Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force. It was launched shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end birth tourism and protect the meaning of U.S. citizenship.
Trump issued the order nearly six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment applies to children who are born in the U.S. by mothers who are in the country illegally. The ruling was seen as “a missed opportunity to restore the original meaning of the 14th Amendment,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, as reported by The Center Square.
Abbott has directed a statewide initiative to end birth tourism. State agencies have launched investigations into facilities allegedly advertising to women overseas to give birth in Texas. One facility admitted to The Center Square that it had been advertising “HavemybabyinTEXAS.com."
Another organization primarily serving Chinese nationals in Houston was permanently closed last week, according to the state Office of Attorney General.
Well-coordinated criminal birth tourism networks are being exposed by federal investigators nationwide. Major cases are being prosecuted from California to Texas to the Northern Mariana Islands, The Center Square reported.
In addition to combatting birth tourism, the State Department launched a new online tip portal urging members of the public to help identify U.S. visa fraud.
Visa fraud includes individuals and organizations falsifying documents or travel plans, brokers arranging sham marriages, shell companies, fabricated job offers, engaging in or facilitating birth tourism, among other examples.
Tips have helped the department identify thousands of cases, it says. Its Bureau of Consular Affairs is conducting “rigorous fraud detection and prevention activities to thwart attempts to travel to the United States through fraudulent means or for illegal purposes.
Visa fraud “hurts American communities, undermines the U.S. economy and American workers, and jeopardizes U.S. national security and public safety,” it says.
Once visa fraud is identified, visas are being revoked. Under Rubio, within 20 months, the State Department revoked 175,000 visas, including more than 600 for birth tourism fraud, The Center Square reported.
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