The debate around Birth Tourism is back in America. US Senator John Cornyn announced that he will be introducing the Barring American Citizenship by Keeping Out Foreign Fraudsters (BACK OFF) Act.
The BACK OFF Act proposes to put a stop to birth tourism, a long-abused system that America’s foreign adversaries like China and Russia have exploited to undermine our nation’s sovereignty and ensure their children born on American soil to automatically gain U.S. citizenship, said Cornyn in a public statement.
Birth Tourism and US Citizenship
Birth Tourism refers to incidents when foreigners travel to US for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child.
Here’s what the US laws say. The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to all children born in the United States, regardless of race, color, or ancestry. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause states, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Meanwhile, ending Birthright Citizenship is already on President Trump’s agenda. Trump’s executive order, issued on January 20, 2025, on ‘Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,’ stating that American citizenship can only be granted to children with parents holding U.S. citizenship or the US Green Card, is still being heard in the Supreme Court.
But, how prevalent is the birth tourism in the US? According to a recent report by Migration Policy Institute, “The most expansive albeit contested estimate based on review of U.S. Census Bureau data is that up to 26,000 babies born in the United States annually could be attributed to birth tourism—a tiny fraction of the more than 3.5 million U.S. births yearly.”
Senator Cornyn, in his statement, said, “U.S. citizenship is the greatest blessing and privilege on the planet, so it should come as no surprise that our adversaries have gamed the system so that citizens of their country can have their children born on U.S. soil and automatically become U.S. citizens – also known as birth tourism. My bill would hold the criminals who game our immigration system to gain U.S. citizenship accountable, ensuring the sanctity of America’s borders and our national security for generations to come.”
In April, in an internal email reviewed by Reuters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered investigative agents around the country to focus on a new “Birth Tourism Initiative.” The operation will seek to root out networks that help pregnant foreign nationals come to the U.S. to give birth so their children can receive citizenship.
BACK OFF Act
Specifically, the Barring American Citizenship by Keeping Out Foreign Fraudsters (BACK OFF) Act would put a stop to birth tourism by making foreigners involved in birth tourism inadmissible to and deportable from the United States. The Act also requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain foreigners who commit crimes related to birth tourism.
One other proposal to prevent foreigners engaged in birth tourism from giving birth in the United States, where their children would otherwise obtain U.S. citizenship, is to require them to return to their home countries pending legal proceedings to prevent them from giving birth in the United States.
The Act also proposes to impose penalties on foreign countries that refuse to accept the removal of their nationals who engage in birth tourism (recalcitrant countries) by automatically temporarily suspending visa issuance to nationals of those countries.
To ensure further compliance, the Act proposes that females of childbearing age have to submit to a medical examination by a United States Public Health Service medical officer if an immigration officer or immigration judge suspects the foreigner is subject to the birth tourism bars.
The consular officer will also be allowed to deny or delay issuance of a non-immigrant visa if the foreigner is suspected of being pregnant or engaging in birth tourism.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for general awareness only and should not be construed as legal or immigration advice. The BACK OFF Act is a proposed piece of legislation that has not passed Congress or been signed into law. Birthright citizenship laws are currently subject to ongoing legal proceedings, including a case before the US Supreme Court. US immigration policies and executive orders are subject to frequent change. Readers are advised to consult official government sources or a licensed immigration attorney before taking any action.