Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the government was targeting organizations accused of helping foreign nationals exploit US immigration rules to obtain citizenship for children born in the United States, Anadolu Agency reported.
“American citizenship is not for sale,” Rubio wrote on X.
***
He accused criminal networks of coaching foreigners to mislead US immigration authorities, commit visa fraud and use falsified documents in schemes designed to secure US citizenship for their children.
The State Department has established a Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force to identify and dismantle the networks behind such operations.
Rubio said the task force would continue reviewing the activities of visa holders as part of efforts to prevent what he called a serious abuse of US immigration laws.
The crackdown follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on August 6, which described birth tourism as a “calculated exploitation” of US immigration policy and characterized it as a national security concern.
The order gives the State Department and Department of Homeland Security authority to permanently bar people involved in facilitating birth tourism schemes and revoke their immigration documentation.
US officials say the new enforcement effort is aimed not simply at individual travelers but at the networks and businesses that organize and profit from birth tourism.
“The State Department will use all available tools to dismantle birth tourism networks and defend the integrity of US citizenship,” Rubio said.
The administration’s actions represent a significant escalation in its effort to crack down on alleged immigration fraud and reinforce restrictions surrounding access to US citizenship.
The State Department said the investigation and visa-review process will continue as authorities seek to identify additional participants in birth tourism operations.
