US adds visa bans to curb commercial birth‑tourism networks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new visa restrictions aimed at commercial birth‑tourism networks on Wednesday. The policy, issued under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, targets owners and operators of such networks, visa "fixers" who coach applicants to lie, foreign medical providers who knowingly arrange births, and anyone who misuses Medicaid. Rubio said the networks sell U.S. citizenship for profit and charge tens of thousands of dollars to arrange births on American soil. He added that family members of facilitators may also face the restrictions. The move follows a broader crackdown that began under the Trump administration, which earlier this year claimed, without evidence, that hundreds of thousands of babies were born through birth tourism. Official data from the CDC shows 9,500 babies were born to foreign‑address women in 2024, about 0.5% of the roughly 3.7 million U.S. births that year. Indian travelers should note that using a visitor visa to give birth for citizenship is already prohibited, and the new rules expand focus to the commercial facilitators behind such trips. The restrictions do not automatically strip citizenship from children born to Indian parents. On August 6, the White House issued an executive order directing the State Department and Homeland Security to act against non‑immigrant visa holders who enter the U.S. primarily to give birth. The policy aims to protect the immigration system and Medicaid from fraud while sending a clear message that exploiting U.S. citizenship will not be tolerated.